[Withdrawal of a drug from the market for safety reasons: process and communication]. / Le retrait d'un médicament pour raison de sécurité: Processus et communication.

Each year, drugs must be withdrawn from the market following the identification of serious adverse reactions. We report here on an enquiry addressed to persons involved in the recent withdrawal of nefazodone, and a survey of physicians and pharmacists. Our results show the complexities of such withdrawal decisions and the difficulty in communicating them through the network of health professionals down to the patients.

[Drug interaction computer programs: which choice?]. / Bases de données informatiques d'interactions médicamenteuses: quel choix?

Adverse drug reactions represent a partly preventable cause of morbidity. Computer-based tools may be useful for the prevention of those events resulting from drug interactions. While several such tools are currently available to practitioners, they have rarely been compared regarding their performances and limits. This article presents a benchmark evaluation of seven drug interaction databases which may be elected by physicians or pharmacists as an aid to prescription on a regular basis. None of the databases tested appears to be perfect, and the systems vary in their overall completeness and ease of use.