Privacy issues and the monitoring of sumatriptan in the New Zealand Intensive Medicines Monitoring Programme.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this paper is to describe how the New Zealand (NZ) Intensive Medicines Monitoring Programme (IMMP) functions in relation to NZ privacy laws and to describe the attitudes of patients to drug safety monitoring and the privacy of their personal and health information.


METHODS
The IMMP undertakes prospective observational event monitoring cohort studies on new drugs. The cohorts are established from prescription data and the events are obtained using prescription event monitoring and spontaneous reporting. Personal details, prescribing history of the monitored drugs and adverse events data are stored in databases long term. The NZ Health Information Privacy Code is outlined and the monitoring of sumatriptan is used to illustrate how the IMMP functions in relation to the Code. Patient responses to the programme are described.


RESULTS
Sumatriptan was monitored in 14,964 patients and 107,646 prescriptions were recorded. There were 2344 reports received describing 3987 adverse events. A majority of the patients were involved in the recording of events data either personally or by telephone interview. There were no objections to the monitoring process on privacy grounds.


CONCLUSIONS
Given the fact that all reasonable precautions are taken to ensure privacy, patients perceive drug safety to have greater priority than any slight risk of breach of confidentiality concerning their personal details and health information.
Coulter
D M
DM
Centre for Adverse Reactions Monitoring, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, PO Box 913, Dunedin, New Zealand. david.coulter@stonebow.otago.ac.nz
D001290:Attitude; D006801:Humans; D008499:Medical Records; D009520:New Zealand / Q000453:epidemiology; D017891:Pharmacoepidemiology / Q000592:standards*; D018907:Privacy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D011358:Product Surveillance, Postmarketing / Q000592:standards*; D012106:Research / Q000592:standards; D018170:Sumatriptan / Q000009:adverse effects; D014662:Vasoconstrictor Agents / Q000009:adverse effects
D014662:Vasoconstrictor Agents; D018170:Sumatriptan