Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The number of adverse reactions to medicines that were reported in Switzerland increased 15 percent to 4,833 in 2008, says Swissmedic, the Swiss body charged with surveillance for therapeutic products. The agency says the number of incidents has doubled since it was created in 2002. It cautions, however, that this reflects greater use of the reporting system, rather than a major increase in problems with medicines.

Patients are increasingly resorting to their right to directly file their own reports on side effects, called vigilance. The Law on Therapeutic Products was passed in early 2002, and Swissmedic was created to handle these reports from patients,  medical centres and regional pharmacovigilance centres, and to act on them.

A good example of the system working well, Swissmedic says, is a product sold to treat acne. It had serious side-effects, including depression and suicidal tendencies in some patients, which never showed up in the clinical trials. Swissmedic went back to the manufacturers to ask them to update and improve the information in the accompanying leaflets. It worked with the Swiss Dermatology Association to publish updated recommendations for the products’ correct use.

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.