Expert opinion on drug safety
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In the last few decades, the consumption of opioid analgesics in many countries, particularly the US, has dramatically increased. This rise has been paralleled by a proportional number of opioid-related deaths. Areas covered: The development of opioid guidelines was a response to this health crisis with the intention of reducing the risk of harm related to opioid prescribing. ⋯ Expert opinion: Many activities have been suggested to face the opioid epidemic. Reducing supply is one of the most relevant aspects. Clinicians should find a fine balance that meets the patient's need for pain relief while minimizing the chance for abuse.
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Expert Opin Drug Saf · Mar 2019
ReviewCurrent state of biologic pharmacovigilance in the European Union: improvements are needed.
Pharmacovigilance is essential to monitoring the safety profiles of authorized medicines. Compared with small-molecule drugs, biological drugs are more complex, more susceptible to structural variability due to manufacturing processes, and have the potential to induce immune-related reactions, underscoring the importance of safety monitoring for these products. Although highly similar to reference products, biosimilars are not expected to be structurally identical. For these reasons, proper reporting of potential adverse drug reactions (ADRs) using distinguishable names and batch numbers is essential for accurate tracing of all biological drugs. To address the need for robust pharmacovigilance, the European Parliament and Council of the European Union provided legislation regarding pharmacovigilance of biologics in 2010. ⋯ Although steps have been taken to improve pharmacovigilance of biologics in the EU, several enhancements can still be made, including additional training for healthcare professionals on ADR reporting, the use of 2D barcodes that enhance traceability, and an open discussion of potentially missed opportunities in the pharmacovigilance of biosimilars.