Case reports of suspected adverse drug reactions: Case reports generate signals efficiently

doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7539.488-a

BMJ 2006;332:488 (25 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7539.488-a

Letter

Case reports of suspected adverse drug reactions

Case reports generate signals efficiently

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

EDITOR—Loke et al judge the value of case reports of suspectedadverse drug reactions by the outcome measures of further formalvalidation and the incorporation into the product information.¹They conclude that such reports are of limited value.

The main sources of information or tools that are availablefor detecting and evaluating suspected adverse drug reactionsare spontaneous reports, formal epidemiological studies andcontrolled clinical trials, and meta-analyses. Misunderstandingsabout the value of drug safety activities occur when inappropriatetasks or unrealistic expectations are assigned to these tools.However, used and interpreted appropriately, all of these methodshave made major contributions to drug safety.^2-4

According to Loke et al, 83% of reports had not been subjectedto further evaluation. However, the first question is whethermost clinically relevant suspected adverse drug reactions areinitially communicated by case reports, and whether this processis efficient—sensitivity combined with low cost . . . [Full text of this article]

Stefan Russmann, assistant professor of epidemiology

Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Program, Boston University, Lexington, MA 02421, USA russmann@bu.edu

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