The FDA recently created a Web page for health care professionals and their patients that provides a single source for postmarket safety information on prescription drugs, according to an Oct. 15 news release from the agency.
The new Web page includes
FDA Provides Single Source for Drug Safety Information
New Web Page Caters to Health Professionals, Consumers
By News Staff
10/22/2008
- information on drug labeling;
- risk evaluation and mitigation strategies;
- searchable databases of postmarket studies and clinical trials;
- drug-specific safety information;
- information on drugs being evaluated for safety issues;
- warning letters, import alerts, recalls, market withdrawals, and safety alerts;
- regulation and guidance documents; and
- instructions on how to use the FDA's MedWatch alert program.
The site also has a consumer component and includes information for consumers on using medications safely and disposing of unused medications, as well as a variety of FDA articles on drug safety.
"By placing Web links to these up-to-date resources on a single page, we're helping consumers and health care professionals find drug safety information faster and easier," said Paul Seligman, M.D., M.P.H., associate director of Safety Policy and Communication in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, in the release.
The Web page is part of the FDA's response to the 2006 Institute of Medicine assessment of the U.S. drug safety system, The Future of Drug Safety: Promoting and Protecting the Health of the Public. The report included a number of recommendations about how the FDA could improve its drug safety efforts, including improving communication and information flow among stakeholders engaged in promoting the safe use of medical products.
"By placing Web links to these up-to-date resources on a single page, we're helping consumers and health care professionals find drug safety information faster and easier," said Paul Seligman, M.D., M.P.H., associate director of Safety Policy and Communication in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, in the release.
The Web page is part of the FDA's response to the 2006 Institute of Medicine assessment of the U.S. drug safety system, The Future of Drug Safety: Promoting and Protecting the Health of the Public. The report included a number of recommendations about how the FDA could improve its drug safety efforts, including improving communication and information flow among stakeholders engaged in promoting the safe use of medical products.
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