The European Medicines Agency, the body that regulates the drug industry in Europe, is creating a comprehensive drug database that would make information about any drug on the market instantly accessible to European doctors and their patients.

Details of the database, which will be known as Eudrapharm, were outlined at a meeting in London last week of the Organisation for Professionals in Regulatory Affairs, a worldwide body for regulators in the healthcare sector.

The new system could revolutionise the way doctors prescribe and would allow GPs to report back to drug companies and their regulators on any unwanted side effects, said Nöel Wathion, head of …