Drug information by public health and regulatory institutions: Results of an 8-country survey in Europe

Analysis of adverse drug events as a way to improve cancer patient care

PURPOSE

To define the signals that a new artificial intelligence (AI) system must emit to improve adverse drug events (ADEs) management in oral antineoplastic agents (OAA).

METHODS

A multidisciplinary group of experts in patient safety was set up to define what signals the new AI system must emit to improve ADEs management in OAAs. The baseline data for the new AI system were generated through an observational and ambispective study carried out in a university hospital. All patients who met the inclusion criteria were selected consecutively every working day for 6 months. The ADEs were collected by interview and by the review of health records. The ADEs were categorised according to how they could be detected: patient, analysis, examination.

RESULTS

The group defined what signals the AI system must emit to improve ADEs management in OAAs: a signal to educate the patient when the possible ADEs were categorised as patient, a signal as a reminder to request a blood test or a microbiological culture when the possible ADEs were categorised as analysis, and a signal as a reminder for the necessity of a clinical examination when the possible ADEs were categorised as examination. A total of 1652 ADEs were reported in the interviews (ADE-interview) with the pharmacist, and doctors noted 1989 ADEs in the health record (ADE-HR). The most frequent ADEs were identified in the patient category.

CONCLUSION

This study opens a new way for better management of ADEs and is the first step in the development of a future technology, which will improve the quality of life of patients.

Ten recommendations to improve pharmacy practice in low and middle-income countries (LMICs)

Medicines are important health interventions and their appropriate use could improve health outcomes. Throughout the globe, pharmacists play a very important role to improve the use of medicines. Though high-income countries are debating on futuristic approaches, independent prescribing of pharmacists, clinical skills, and to expand pharmacy services; a large majority of low and middle-income countries still lag behind to strengthen pharmacy practice. This paper presents a key set of recommendations that can improve pharmacy practice in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). The ten recommendations include (1) Mandatory presence of graduate-level pharmacists at community pharmacies (2) Clear demarcation of the roles and responsibilities of different categories of pharmacists (3) Effective categorization and implementation of medicines into (a) prescription medicines (b) pharmacists only medicines (c) over the counter medicines (4) Enforcement of laws and regulations for the sale of medicines (5) Prohibiting doctors from dispensing medicines (the dispensing separation between pharmacists and doctors). (6) Involving pharmacies and pharmacists in Universal Health Coverage Schemes to improve the affordability of medicines (7) Strengthening national medicines regulatory authorities to improve the quality, safety, and effectiveness of medicines (8) Training of pharmacists in clinical skills, vaccination, and minor ailment schemes (9) Promoting independent medicines information for consumers and healthcare professionals by developing national medicines information strategy (10) Mandatory Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programs for the Pharmacists.

[Development of an information website on the proper use of medicines during the pandemic]

In the context of COVID-19, the French Society of Pharmacology and Therapeutics opened a question-and-answer website on 17 March 2020 to provide clear and reliable answers to patients' questions about the treatment of their chronic pathologies, to inform the general public about the proper use of medicines and to fight against misinformation. On May 13, 152 questions and answers were published and updated on this website, which was visited more than 154,000 times in two months.

Genesis of an emergency public drug information website by the French Society of Pharmacology and Therapeutics during the COVID-19 pandemic

On March 16, 2020, the French Society of Pharmacology and Therapeutics put online a national Question and Answer (Q&A) website, https://sfpt-fr.org/covid19 on the proper use of drugs during the COVID‐19 pandemic. The working group ‘Drugs and COVID‐19’ was composed of a scientific council, an editorial team, and experts in the field. The first questions were posted online during the first evening of home‐confinement in France, March 17, 2020. Six weeks later, 140 Q&As have been posted. Questions on the controversial use of hydroxychloroquine and to a lesser extent concerning azithromycin have been the most consulted Q&As. Q&As have been consulted 226 014 times in 41 days. This large visibility was obtained through an early communication on Twitter, Facebook, traditional print, and web media. In addition, an early communication through the French Ministry of Health and the French National Agency for Medicines and Health Products Safety ANSM had a large impact in terms of daily number of views. There is a pressing need to sustain a public drug information service combining the expertise of scholarly pharmacology societies, pharmacovigilance network, and the Ministry of Health to quickly provide understandable, clear, expert answers to the general population’s concerns regarding COVID‐19 and drug use and to counter fake news.

Empirical Study on the Transparency of Security Risk Information in Chinese Listed Pharmaceutical Enterprises Based on the ANP-DS Method

Frequent outbreaks of drug safety incidents pose a massive threat to public health and safety, while the transparency of security risk information in medical enterprises is not optimistic. Therefore, this study uses the analytic network process (Dempster-Shafer method) to construct a transparent comprehensive evaluation model for security risk information in listed pharmaceutical enterprises from the perspective of government supervision and listed pharmaceutical enterprises. On the basis of 59,305 data obtained by 303 enterprises listed in the Chinese biomedical sector, this research conducted an empirical study on the transparency of safety risk information in Chinese listed pharmaceutical enterprises. The current study found that the transparency of security risk information in Chinese listed pharmaceutical enterprises is generally between “general” and “relatively good” and tends to be “relatively good.” However, administrative punishment information, adverse drug reaction reporting systems, and production processes need continuous improvement.