title: Cyberpharmacovigilance: What is the usefulness of the social networks in pharmacovigilance?
abstract: Internet is changing the way people learn about health and illness. Health websites are among the most popular resources on the web. The sharing of patient experiences on a website could be an interesting source of information about adverse drug reactions (ADRs) or could generate "signals". Three examples of the use of patient forums in pharmacovigilance are discussed: (1) analysis of perceptions of risk by patients before and after withdrawal of benfluorex, and then following media coverage; (2) comparison of oral antineoplasic-induced ADRs collected on patient websites with those registered in the French pharmacovigilance database; (3) analysis of data found in the social media about drugs and pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Inserm 1027, service de pharmacologie médicale et clinique, centre Midi-Pyrénées de pharmacovigilance de pharmacoépidémiologie et d'informations sur le médicament, faculté de médecine, centre hospitalier universitaire de Toulouse, université de Toulouse, 31000 Toulouse, France. Electronic address: haleh.bagheri@univ-tlse3.fr.
authors.forename: Haleh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bagheri
authors.affiliation: Inserm 1027, service de pharmacologie médicale et clinique, centre Midi-Pyrénées de pharmacovigilance de pharmacoépidémiologie et d'informations sur le médicament, faculté de médecine, centre hospitalier universitaire de Toulouse, université de Toulouse, 31000 Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lacroix
authors.affiliation: Inserm 1027, service de pharmacologie médicale et clinique, centre Midi-Pyrénées de pharmacovigilance de pharmacoépidémiologie et d'informations sur le médicament, faculté de médecine, centre hospitalier universitaire de Toulouse, université de Toulouse, 31000 Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Emmanuelle
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Guitton
authors.affiliation: Inserm 1027, service de pharmacologie médicale et clinique, centre Midi-Pyrénées de pharmacovigilance de pharmacoépidémiologie et d'informations sur le médicament, faculté de médecine, centre hospitalier universitaire de Toulouse, université de Toulouse, 31000 Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Damase-Michel
authors.affiliation: Inserm 1027, service de pharmacologie médicale et clinique, centre Midi-Pyrénées de pharmacovigilance de pharmacoépidémiologie et d'informations sur le médicament, faculté de médecine, centre hospitalier universitaire de Toulouse, université de Toulouse, 31000 Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Louis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Montastruc
mesh_terms: D016907:Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D060735:Pharmacovigilance; D011247:Pregnancy; D061108:Social Media
keywords: Adverse drug reactions; Cyberpharmacovigilance; Social network