title: Adverse drug reactions: the San Juan Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center experience.
abstract: The San Juan Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center's adverse drug reactions (ADRs) reporting and monitoring program is described. ADRs for the first 2 years of the program are discussed. These were mainly hypersensitivity (29.3%), drug intoxications (19.9%), cardiovascular (15.9%), hematologic (7.6%), neurologic (4.9%), and gastrointestinal (4.7%) ADRs. Drugs most frequently involved were antibiotics (28.7%), cardiovascular agents (21.2%), anticonvulsants (10.2%), psychotropics (9.4%), and theophylline (5.1%). Preventive interventions include the development of a clinical pharmacist-run anticoagulation clinic, a drug utilization evaluation of phenytoin, development of a dosing algorithm for theophylline, and the possible future initiation of a pharmacokinetic consult service. The success of the ADR program is evidenced by a 750% increase in ADR reports over the 2-year period. This was possible by the establishment of a clear definition of an ADR, the creation of a simple reporting method, and an ongoing educational campaign.
authors.affiliation: San Juan Department of Veterans, Affairs Medical Center, Puerto Rico 00927.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nazario
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Feliú
authors.forename: G C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Rivera
mesh_terms: D016907:Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting Systems; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions; D005568:Forms and Records Control; D006746:Hospital Bed Capacity, 500 and over; D006787:Hospitals, Veterans / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D010607:Pharmacy Service, Hospital / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011647:Puerto Rico; D014481:United States; D014486:United States Food and Drug Administration