Medicines safety monitoring

This section provides information on how we monitor the safety of medicines.

Pharmacovigilance
This is the process of:

  • monitoring the use of medicines in everyday practice to identify previously unrecognised adverse effects or changes in the patterns of adverse effects;
  • assessing the risks and benefits of medicines in order to determine what action, if any, is necessary is needed to improve their safe use;
  • providing information to healthcare professionals and patients to optimise safe and effective use of medicines; and
  • monitoring the impact of any action taken.

Defective medicines
Our Defective Medicines Report Centre (DMRC) receives and assesses complaints and reports of actual or suspected defects in medicines.


Page last modified: 02 January 2007