Numbers rise in adverse drug reaction cases
The number of reports in Switzerland of adverse drug reactions continues to increase, according to the agency that authorises and supervises therapeutic products.
Swissmedic, which is based in Bern, said that for human medicines the number of reports received had risen by 15 per cent to 4,833 – a figure that has more than doubled since the agency was founded in 2002.
It said that spontaneous reports of adverse events were an important tool for identifying risks related to medicines and taking measures to prevent them.
Swissmedic pointed out in a statement on Tuesday that assessment of the reports and new scientific findings meant it was “constantly necessary” to intervene regarding developments on the market.
In 2008, as in previous years, the agency needed, for example, to place restrictions on the use of a number of medicines or to order new warnings to be included in the product information.
It added that last year a greater number of patients made use of their right to submit their own reports.
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