What do you learn from PV?

When you are prescribed drugs, even when you take them over the counter without a prescription, the benefits and the risks associated with this drug are monitored.

Not only by the doctors in universities or in centers doing medical research, but by yourself. Getting a rash or a painful throat after taking a drug will lead yo to call the 800 number printed on the box. From there people will process the information and eventually this call will end up being declared to authorities like FDA in the US.

Whomever is calling , whether a nurse, a physician or yourself, will help the manufacturer of the drug to better understand how this active product is behaving in the field.

Even after years in service, someone taking a drug may describe something never seen before.

Don't be mislead, this will not bring any reward to you or the manufacturer. It will cost a lot of time and money to every one involved. Nevertheless, it will guarantee for future patients that we know how things are away from the labs.

Why I get into this?

Starting a Blog is a kind of adventure like starting a book with an empty page and no precise ideas. Fortunately, this blog has a meaning. As I'm getting more and more involved in pharmaco-vigilance (PV in the title) I would like to share some of my discoveries with whomever will be trapped there.