[Misuse of drugs: conclusions of the pharmacovigilance workshops at La Baule, France].
Drug iatrogeny is a current Public Health issue; it is often related to misuse and is therefore preventable. The congress "Les Ateliers de Pharmacovigilance de La Baule" (May 2001) bringing together pharmacovigilance staff from both the industry and Health authorities, showed that misuse concerns every step of the drug process--prescription, dispensing and administration--and all health professionals as well as the patient. New concepts have been brought to light with regard to the definition of misuse: the medical point of view should be preferred, based on the risk taken by a given patient without the expected benefit. product characteristics alone are inadequate and should be enlarged by relevent scientific data. the main goal is to improve the quality of healthcare by preventing misuse. A working group including Pharmacovigilance staff from the industry, the CRPV and the Afssaps has: to reach a consensus on definition in France and then propose it to EMEA; to analyse and propose specific prevention actions; to write a vademecum of those involved in this prevention.
Fermont
I
I
Laboratoires LEO, Département de pharmacovigilance, St Quentin en Yvelines, France. irene.fermont@leo-pharma.com
D004345:Drug Industry; D011307:Drug Prescriptions; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006300:Health Services Misuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D010594:Pharmacies; D011358:Product Surveillance, Postmarketing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*