Early Detection of Adverse Drug Reactions Using Drug Safety Management Monitoring System and Pharmaceutical Treatment for Them

The early detection of adverse drug reactions and pharmaceutical treatment for them are important in ensuring that drugs are administered safely. However, it is not easy for pharmacists to monitor all prescribed drugs for adverse drug reactions. In view of this, we have established a screening system (drug safety management monitoring system) for any adverse effects that may have causal relationships with administered drugs and the screening results are fed back to the physicians in charge. The system compares current data with that stored in our clinical laboratory's data management registry and identifies laboratory tests significantly different from earlier ones. In the present study, we examined the reasons for 258 instances of abnormal changes in laboratory tests in 187 patients that we reported to attending physicians between April 2003 and March 2004. For 82 of the 258 instances, causal relationships with drugs could not be ruled out. Our pharmacists proposed prescriptions for the abnormal laboratory tests deemed to be adverse reactions and 44 % of them were accepted by the physicians in charge, in view of the importance of treating adverse drug reactions as early as possible.In conclusion, we consider that our drug safety management monitoring system would to be useful for the early detection and treatment of adverse drug reactions.