Audit is important part of drug safety and regulation

doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7514.456

BMJ 2005;331:456 (20 August), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7514.456

Letter

Audit is important part of drug safety and regulation

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Waller et al write about the responsibilities ofthe pharmaceutical companies and the regulating agencies suchas the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agencyto improve the safety of the drugs that are licensed for prescription.¹Although cyclo-oxygenase 2 inhibitors and selective serotoninreuptake inhibitors have been under the spotlight in recentmonths, other drugs may be of greater concern.

In 2000 the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence(NICE) issued guidance on the use of proton pump inhibitorsin treating dyspepsia.² In January 2005 in our hospital, anaudit of record of 50 deceased patients identified 20 who weretaking these drugs. Twelve of the 50 patients had had Clostridiumdifficile isolated in recent months, and eight of them had beentaking proton pump inhibitors. Forty three patients receivedone or more antibiotics, 29 received three or more (cephalosporins27, co-amoxiclav 19, metronidazole 19, clarithromycin . . . [Full text of this article]