Pharmacovigilance

Just say it: pharma-co-vigilance.

You’ve seen all those pharmaceutical commercials. You know that part toward the end where they show happy people doing things you’d never do...like dancing with a partner by a lake, or running through a perfectly mown park with the wind blowing in your hair just right? Yeah, the part where they talk really fast and really low about all the horrible side effects that you might experience if you take that drug?

That falls under the umbrella of pharmacovigilance, which is all about drug safety. The main pharmacovigilance focus is on side effects, a.k.a. ADRs, a.k.a. adverse drug reactions. Adverse drug reactions could be from mixing two drugs you just shouldn’t mix, or just from the person’s body not reacting well...side effects for the unfortunate minority. Other things pharmacovigilantes focus on is misuse of drugs, whether by accident, or...not.

Pharmacovigilance is done by pharmaceutical companies to make sure they’re complying with all laws and regulations they need to. That includes informing patients of side effects. Plus, the drug won’t be approved in the first place without a pharmacovigiliante taking it on.

Just to be clear: no, the eye on your bottle of pills is not a wink, letting you know it’s okay to drink alcohol. Pharmacovigilantes don’t speak in winks.