Adverse drug reactions--again.
The allowance made by the medical profession, the health authorities, or the public for the inevitable chance that the author of information may be wrong is much lower in the case of issues relative to drug safety than for other issues with comparable safety components. Recognition of the fact that true knowledge requires several studies so that various errors and biases can be eliminated would help to dedramatize the issue, and this would benefit everybody. Since no single method or system of monitoring will solve all the problems, proceeding through a sequence of objectively oriented approaches is necessary. Such an approach more optimally manifests the limitation of each method used and helps to interpret the results. An organizational structure that permits closer cooperation between all interested parties is necessary. It should not be left in the hands of any single body, and medical and methodologic audits should check its activities. Moreover, information should be more easily accessible to interested parties than is now the case with most monitoring systems.
D003142:Communication; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions; D006801:Humans; D014944:World Health Organization