Drug Safety Matters
Drug Safety Matters brings you the best stories from the world of pharmacovigilance. Through in-depth interviews with our guests, we cover new research and trends, and explore the most pressing issues in medicines safety today. Produced by Uppsala Monitoring Centre, the WHO Collaborating Centre for International Drug Monitoring.
Episodes
48 episodes
#31 A guide to reporting disproportionality analyses – Michele Fusaroli and Daniele Sartori
Disproportionality analyses are a mainstay of pharmacovigilance research, but without clear guidelines, they often lead to confusion and misinterpretation. Enter the READUS-PV statement: the first-ever guide for reporting disproportionality ana...
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42:45
Uppsala Reports Long Reads – Weeding out duplicates to better detect side effects
Duplicate reports are a big problem when it comes to signal detection, but with the help of machine learning and new ways of comparing reports, we may more effectively detect them. This episode is part of the
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25:02
Uppsala Reports Long Reads – Ensuring trust in AI/ML when used in pharmacovigilance
Ensuring trust in AI is vital to fully reap the benefits of the technology in pharmacovigilance. Yet, how do we do so while grappling with its ever-growing complexity?This episode is part of the Upps...
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30:18
#30 Preventing and reporting medication errors – Rabat CC & UMC
Look-alike medicines, unclear communication and distractions during administration – medication errors may occur for many different reasons. They all have in common that they are unintended mistakes in the drug treatment process that may or may...
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33:58
#29 When medicines change our behaviour – Michele Fusaroli
Medicines can affect our personality in positive ways, but they may also lead to destructive behaviours that can damage our relationships, finances, and overall quality of life. Michele Fusaroli from the University of Bologna explains how to di...
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30:30
#28 Catching black swans – François Montastruc
Serious and unexpected adverse drug reactions – the ‘black swans’ of pharmacovigilance – can place enormous strain on safety monitoring systems. Drawing examples from the COVID-19 pandemic, François Montastruc from Toulouse University Hospital ...
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27:21
#27 When drugs damage the liver – Rita Baião
The liver is the primary site for drug metabolism in the body, but it can be severely damaged by medicines or their toxic compounds. Rita Baião from the North Lisbon University Hospital Center reviews what pharmacovigilance professionals should...
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28:30
#26 What's trending in pharmacovigilance? – Angela Caro
What did the drug safety community achieve in 2023 and how will the field develop in 2024? As the year comes to a close, we asked Angela Caro, president of the International Society of Pharmacovigilance (ISoP), to walk us through current and fu...
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28:06
#25 A week in the name of medicines safety – part 2
To mark #MedSafetyWeek, which took place from 6–12 November, we’re releasing a special two-part episode on pharmacovigilance communication campaigns. In this second part, we hear from three #MedS...
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33:13
#24 A week in the name of medicines safety – part 1
To mark #MedSafetyWeek, which takes place from 6–12 November, we’re releasing a special two-part episode on pharmacovigilance communication campaigns. In this first part, we speak to Mitul Jadeja...
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27:09
Uppsala Reports Long Reads – The colour of signals
Herbal remedies have been used for thousands of years to treat what ails us. Yet why do we still know so little about their potential side effects compared to modern medicines?This episode is part of the
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33:59
Uppsala Reports Long Reads – Empowering patients as partners
A patient's perspective can ensure safe medical care and lead to new insights that traditional research may overlook. But how do we best harness that perspective to improve patient outcomes?This episode is part of the
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42:43
#23 Assessing safety in clinical trials – Marianne Lunzer & Sanja Prpić
Medicines safety monitoring is a continuous process that begins with pre-marketing clinical trials and continues with post-marketing studies to fill any gaps in knowledge. With Marianne Lunzer from AGES and Sanja Prpić from HALMED, we review th...
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31:06
#22 Reforming pharmacovigilance education – Michael Reumerman
Healthcare professionals are key players in medicines safety but they often lack the time or knowledge to report adverse drug reactions. To change that, we need to urgently rethink how we teach pharmacovigilance, argues Michael Reumerman from A...
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32:54
#21 Unlocking the power of real-world data – Patrick Ryan
The vast amount of real-world data collected during routine clinical care is a treasure trove of safety information – but there are challenges to overcome before this rich source of evidence can be applied to pharmacovigilance. Patrick Ryan fro...
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33:42
#20 The evidence for signals – Daniele Sartori
Spontaneous reports of adverse drug reactions are a common source of evidence in pharmacovigilance, but as the science evolves, so do the types of data used to find and assess signals. Uppsala Monitoring Centre’s Daniele Sartori reviews how sig...
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45:41
Uppsala Reports Long Reads – Unmasking data in the COVID-19 vaccine era
Most pharmacovigilance professionals will have heard of masking – a statistical issue where reports for one drug hide signals for other drugs. But the problem gained fresh attention when record amounts of reports began piling up for the COVID-1...
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21:19
#19 Lessons in pandemic pharmacovigilance – Elena Rocca
The COVID-19 pandemic forced pharmacovigilance experts to revisit their processes to deal with unprecedented volumes of data and catch unexpected safety issues. Elena Rocca from Oslo Metropolitan University reviews the challenges of a global he...
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33:11
#18 The IDMP standards explained – Malin Fladvad & Olle Lagerlund
The Identification of Medicinal Products (IDMP) standards promise to harmonise how pharmaceutical products and substances are described around the world. But how will that benefit patients and who will make sure the standards are properly imple...
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23:06
#17 Why we need vaccine surveillance systems – Madhava Balakrishnan
Public trust in vaccines hinges on their safety – but to make sure vaccines are safe, we must have systems in place to detect and manage any side effects. Dr Madhava Ram Balakrishnan, medical officer for vaccine safety at the World Health Organ...
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27:30
#16 How drug safety can help fight resistant bugs – Jean Marie Vianney Habarugira & Albert Figueras
Managing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) will require innovative solutions from many different disciplines. Could pharmacovigilance be one of them? Jean Marie Vianney Habarugira and Albert Figueras, who have been investigating how drug safety to...
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33:42
#15 Safety of HIV medications – Henry Zakumumpa
With the right care, people infected with HIV can lead long and healthy lives. But as with any life-long medical treatment, it is important to acknowledge and manage any side effects. Henry Zakumumpa from Makerere University School of Public He...
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33:19
#14 Advancing pharmacovigilance in Africa – Eleni Aklillu & Abbie Barry
Access to medical products has increased considerably in Africa in recent years, but safety monitoring systems haven’t exactly kept pace and many African countries still struggle to address safety issues. We sat down with Eleni Aklillu and Abbi...
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37:20
#13 How to talk about risks – Alexandra Freeman
People’s perception of risk can vary greatly from person to person, making it challenging for healthcare professionals to communicate benefits and harms of medicines in a balanced fashion. Alexandra Freeman from the Winton Centre for Risk and E...
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38:16
Uppsala Reports Long Reads – Safety issues faced by refugee communities
The loss of vital health records is a universal problem for refugees. When their medical information goes missing, patients are less likely to receive the care they need and more likely to be prescribed the wrong treatments. Thankfully, the Int...
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25:08