The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is most likely to release drug safety alerts on Friday, the day of the week when most people pay less attention to the news, according to an Oct. 4 report from Medscape.
Friday is the day of choice for businesses, health organizations and government officials to release unflattering news and reports, as the majority of consumers are more mentally tuned out on Fridays.
Friday alerts are shared 34 percent less on social media, are 12 to 51 percent less likely to be covered in print media and 23 to 66 percent less likely to be mentioned in digital articles.
Researchers found that moving FDA Friday alerts to other weekdays would reduce drug-related side effects by nine to 12 percent, complications by six to 15 percent and deaths by 22 to 36 percent.