Joint medicine-information and pharmacovigilance services could improve detection and communication about drug-safety problems.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: RELIS is a Norwegian network of four regional medicine-information and pharmacovigilance centers where pharmacists and clinical pharmacologists provide feedback to health care professionals in spontaneous drug-related questions and adverse drug-reaction (ADR) reports published in a question-answer pair (QAP) database (the RELIS database) and the Norwegian ADR database, respectively. OBJECTIVE: To describe the potential of RELIS's dual service to improve detection and communication of drug-safety problems. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched the RELIS database for QAPs about ADRs with use of the Norwegian ADR database as a reference. We also searched the Norwegian ADR database for reports that used the RELIS database as a reference. Both searches were limited to the years 2003-2012. We then selected the example of pregabalin and drug abuse after the marketing of Lyrica in Norway in September 2004 to illustrate RELIS's potential to detect new drug-safety information through a limited number of QAPs and ADR reports. RESULTS: A total of 5,427 (26%) of 21,071 QAPs in the RELIS database concerned ADRs. QAPs from this database were used as references in 791 (4%) of a total of 22,090 reports in the Norwegian ADR database. The Norwegian ADR database was used as a reference in 363 (7%) of 5,427 QAPs that concerned ADRs. Between September 2004 and September 2008, RELIS received eleven questions and 13 ADR reports about suspicion of Lyrica (pregabalin) and different aspects of abuse. CONCLUSION: RELIS processes data through two databases that facilitate communication about ADRs. Our service also has the potential to detect new drug-safety problems with a limited number of questions and ADR reports.