Pharmacoepidemiology: the industry's perspective.

The pharmaceutical industry has a vital interest in, and plays a central role regarding, the issues of safety of the medicines it produces. Not only does industry have the basic and broadest expertise and "ownership" in drugs, it also is in an ideal position to receive and evaluate important information. At the center of spontaneous voluntary reporting (particularly in the US) it is a partner in generating signals of potential safety problems. And, as a scientific leader, it is a vital partner with academia and government in developing and using the evolving capacity for pharmacoepidemiology for proper examination of these signals using structured epidemiology study. Particularly, the importance of the large automated database in this regard is emphasized. Where the public's health is concerned there is no "different" industry perspective.