Detecting Adverse Reactions to Drugs

1 Present attitudes to drug safety have been shaped largely by a series of disasters. 2 In 1937 about 107 people in the USA died of poisoning by diethylene glycol used as a vehicle for sulphanilamide which led to the requirement that all formulations must be licensed by the FDA before marketing. 3 Up to 1960 the rate of production of new drugs outstripped the ability to introduce them safely. In Germany, thalidomide, an effective sedative, had been introduced in 1956 but it was not until 1961, when an estimated 10 000 babies worldwide had been born with birth deformities, that the teratogenicity of this compound was recognized. 4 Further legislation soon followed, both reducing the number and lengthening the time required to introduce a new drug onto the market. However, problems were encountered with practolol in the 1970s and with benoxaprofen in the 1980s, the latter highlighting the need to make special provision for drug use in the elderly. 5 As to the future, more attention will be paid to the special needs of children and to the possible effects of genetic differences in metabolism.

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Design and analysis of drug safety studies, with special reference to sporadic drug use and acute adverse reactions

Journal of Clinical Epidemiology ◽

10.1016/0895-4356(93)90071-8 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 46 (3) ◽

pp. 237-244 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Uwe Feldmann

Keyword(s):

Drug Use ◽

Special Reference ◽

Drug Safety ◽

Adverse Reactions ◽

Safety Studies

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Infections caused by medical products at longterm nursing care

Medsestra (Nurse) ◽

10.33920/med-05-2006-01 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 7-10

Author(s):

Hardy Thorsten Panknin

Keyword(s):

Nursing Care ◽

Nursing Staff ◽

Nosocomial Infections ◽

The Elderly ◽

Relevant Information ◽

Medical Products ◽

The Disabled ◽

The Usa ◽

Therapeutic Measures

Nosocomial infections in the elderly, often suffering from many ailments, patients in homes for the disabled and the old are among the problematic diseases that specialized nursing staff and doctors have to deal with more often in such institutions. Review work from the USA introduces relevant information about infectious risks, as well as possible preventive and therapeutic measures.

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Review of Drug Utilization Studies in Neonatal Units: A Global Perspective

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17165669 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (16) ◽

pp. 5669 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Asma Al-Turkait ◽

Lisa Szatkowski ◽

Imti Choonara ◽

Shalini Ojha

Keyword(s):

Drug Use ◽

Drug Utilization ◽

Antibiotic Use ◽

Global Perspective ◽

Use Patterns ◽

Rational Prescribing ◽

Drug Use Patterns ◽

General Drug ◽

The Usa ◽

Drug Utilization Studies

Rational prescribing is challenging in neonatology. Drug utilization studies help identify and define the problem. We performed a review of the literature on drug use in neonatal units and describe global variations. We searched databases (EMBASE, CINAHL and Medline) from inception to July 2020, screened studies and extracted relevant data (two reviewers). The search revealed 573 studies of which 84 were included. India (n = 14) and the USA (n = 13) reported the most. Data collection was prospective (n = 56) and retrospective (n = 26), mostly (n = 52) from one center only. Sixty studies described general drug use in 34 to 450,386 infants (median (IQR) 190 (91–767)) over a median (IQR) of 6 (3–18) months. Of the participants, 20–87% were preterm. The mean number of drugs per infant (range 11.1 to 1.7, pooled mean (SD) 4 (2.4)) was high with some reporting very high burden (≥30 drugs per infant in 8 studies). This was not associated with the proportion of preterm infants included. Antibiotics were the most frequently used drug. Drug use patterns were generally uniform with some variation in antibiotic use and more use of phenobarbitone in Asia. This study provides a global perspective on drug utilization in neonates and highlights the need for better quality information to assess rational prescribing.

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A Pharmacological Analysis of the Activity and Failure of the Medical Treatment of High-Grade Osteosarcoma

Medicina ◽

10.3390/medicina57020141 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 57 (2) ◽

pp. 141

Author(s):

Alessandro Comandone ◽

Antonella Boglione ◽

Tiziana Comandone ◽

Fausto Petrelli

Keyword(s):

Bone Cells ◽

Age Groups ◽

The Elderly ◽

New Drugs ◽

High Grade ◽

Secondary Resistance ◽

Orthopedic Surgeons ◽

Close Cooperation ◽

High Grade Osteosarcoma ◽

Effective Drugs

Osteosarcomas (OSs) are a group of neoplasms originating from bone cells, usually presenting in three specific age groups: children, young adults, and the elderly. High-grade OS is an extremely malignant tumor mainly due to evolution into metastatic disease, usually in the lungs. Survival of these patients has improved since the 1980s thanks to close cooperation between oncologists, oncological surgeons and orthopedic surgeons. Unfortunately, no progress has been made in the last 30 years and new, more effective drugs are needed. This article reviews the biological and pharmacological basis of the treatment of OS. Models of clinical pharmacology of the active drugs, toxic effects and reasons for primary and secondary resistance to old and new drugs are discussed.

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French patterns of psychotropic drug use

Psychiatry and Psychobiology ◽

10.1017/s0767399x00003801 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 5 (5) ◽

pp. 301-308

Author(s):

V Kovess ◽

M Ortun

Keyword(s):

Drug Use ◽

General Practitioners ◽

Psychotropic Drug ◽

Psychotropic Drugs ◽

Elderly Population ◽

The Elderly ◽

Population Surveys ◽

Minor Tranquilizers ◽

French People ◽

Few Data

SummaryFrench publications on psychotropics are curiously few. Data are available and French consumption of psychotropics, at least minor tranquilizers has been consistently reported as being higher than that found in other countries. The authors attempt to answer three questions: is French consuption of psychotropics really higher than other countries? Who is consuming those drugs? In which context? After having reviewed comparative data on sales, data from population surveys are analysed together with samples of prescriptions by different categories of physicians. It seems likely that French people consume more anxiolytics but this does not apply to other psychotropic drugs. Given the fact that drugs are almost free of charge in France, it is always difficult to discriminate between what has been prescribed and what has been taken. Overconsumption of anxiolytics is due to the overconsumption of the elderly population (over 60). Minor tranquilizers are mainly prescribed by general practitioners for psychological reasons.

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Hypnotic drug use for the elderly

BMJ ◽

10.1136/bmj.296.6626.930-a ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 296 (6626) ◽

pp. 930-930 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

K. Morgan

Keyword(s):

Drug Use ◽

The Elderly ◽

Hypnotic Drug

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Shifting from Village-Based Networks to Locally Generated Networks: Undocumented Mexican Agricultural Workers Who Use/Used Hard Drugs

Journal of Anthropology ◽

10.1155/2017/4387125 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2017 ◽

pp. 1-13

Author(s):

Keith V. Bletzer

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Drug Use ◽

Illicit Drugs ◽

The United States ◽

Border Crossing ◽

New Drugs ◽

Agricultural Workers ◽

Economic Success ◽

Childhood Difficulties ◽

Hard Drugs

Hardships that face transmigrants working in agriculture include the potential for drug use. Reliant on village-based networks that facilitate border crossing and developing a plan for a destination within this country, transmigrants who try new drugs/alcohol and/or continue on accustomed drugs/alcohol are facilitated in these endeavors through locally generated networks as alternative forms of access and support. Seven cases of undocumented men from Mexico are reviewed to show how use of illicit drugs is minimally affected by economic success and time in the United States, or village-based networks that first facilitated entry into this country. Prior conditions, especially childhood difficulties and search for socioeconomic autonomy, precipitate new and/or continuing drug use within the United States on this side of the border, where both forms of drug use are facilitated by locally generated networks.

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An Environmental Justice Analysis of British Air Quality

Environment and Planning A Economy and Space ◽

10.1068/a35240 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 35 (5) ◽

pp. 909-929 ◽

Cited By ~ 138

Author(s):

Gordon Mitchell ◽

Danny Dorling

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

Environmental Justice ◽

The Elderly ◽

Local Communities ◽

Car Ownership ◽

National Study ◽

Environmental Injustice ◽

The Usa ◽

History Of

This paper presents the results of the first national study of air quality in Britain to consider the implications of its distribution across over ten thousand local communities in terms of potential environmental injustice. We consider the recent history of the environmental justice debate in Britain, Europe, and the USA and, in the light of this, estimate how one aspect of air pollution, nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels, affects different population groups differentially across Britain. We also estimate the extent to which people living in each community in Britain contribute towards this pollution, with the aid of information on the characteristics of the vehicles they own. We find that, although community NO x emission and ambient NO2 concentration are strongly related, the communities that have access to fewest cars tend to suffer from the highest levels of air pollution, whereas those in which car ownership is greatest enjoy the cleanest air. Pollution is most concentrated in areas where young children and their parents are more likely to live and least concentrated in areas to which the elderly tend to migrate. Those communities that are most polluted and which also emit the least pollution tend to be amongst the poorest in Britain. There is therefore evidence of environmental injustice in the distribution and production of poor air quality in Britain. However, the spatial distribution of those who produce and receive most of that pollution have to be considered simultaneously to see this injustice clearly.

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