The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has called on healthcare professionals and the public to report suspected side effects of drugs to the FDA.
The FDA is participating in the 5th annual social media campaign on medicine safety called #MedSafetyWeek to raise awareness about the importance of reporting suspected side effects from medicines to the FDA with the theme ‘EVERY REPORT COUNTS’.
A press statement signed by the Chief Executive Officer, Delese A. A Darko noted that early reporting of these cases allows them to identify these side effects early and work on ways to improve the drugs.
“During this MedSafetyWeek, patients and caregivers, as well as healthcare professionals and their organizations, are being called upon to report suspected side effects from medicines and are advised not to wait for someone else to report their suspicions. Reporting helps to identify new side effects or unexpected and serious safety problems with medicines (including herbals), vaccines, and other health products in order to gain more information about known effects.”
The statement also noted that “Patient safety is always our top priority, and we have identified a number of new safety issues that were previously unknown through reports received from patients, caregivers, healthcare professionals, and the pharmaceutical industry. ”
Click here to read the full statement
