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Pharmacovigilance: valuable data from the French regional centres

The annual French pharmacovigilance conference gives a glimpse of the reports made by health professionals to the regional pharmacovigilance centres, and a peek into the French pharmacovigilance database.

Every year, the French pharmacovigilance conference reveals more about the adverse drug effects observed in patients by French health professionals who have notified the regional pharmacovigilance centres.

Much useful information emerged at this year's conference. For example, the serious adverse effects of the vascular dilator buflomedil, which are disproportionate compared to its very limited efficacy, and are a good reason for the drug's withdrawal from the market. Alzheimer's drugs were shown to be of modest benefit, in view of their serious, sometimes fatal, adverse effects. The use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to treat febrile infections such as chicken pox carries the risk of rare but serious infectious complications. The contra-indications and precautions of use for metformin, an antidiabetic drug, must be taken into account to avoid death from lactic acidosis. And women are still being given NSAIDs during the third trimester of pregnancy, even though they put the foetus at risk, while paracetamol, effective in the mother, is without danger for the unborn child.

©Prescrire October 2006

Source: "27e journées françaises de pharmacovigilance : les faits marquants 2006 " Rev Prescrire 2006 ; 26 (276) : 667-675.

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