The goal of #MedSafetyWeek is ‘to encourage everyone to report suspected side effects from medicines’, says the Ministry of Health.
The collaborative project involves more than 80 ‘regulatory agencies and other organisations with an interest in medicine safety,’ and runs from 6 to 11 November.
Whether you’re a patient, medicine user, doctor, nurse, pharmacist, or other healthcare professional, you can play your part to help make medicines safer.
“Reports from everyone, not just healthcare professionals, play a key role in helping Medsafe learn more about the risks of medicines. If you, or someone you know, experiences a side effect with a medicine, share your experience and report it”, says Chris James, Group Manager of Medsafe.
Side effects can happen anywhere and at any time. They can be unexpected. Medsafe has systems in place to monitor safety after medicines are placed on the market. Reporting suspected side effects is an important component of safety monitoring. Medsafe works with the Centre for Adverse Reactions (CARM) to collect suspected side effect reports in New Zealand, and can act when necessary to improve medicine safety.
“By sharing your experience of a side effect, you are improving medicines safety for everyone. You don’t even need to be certain that the medicine caused the side effect. If you are suspicious, report it”, says Chris James.
In some cases, it can result in updated prescribing information, which can improve safe use of the medicine.
Anyone can report suspected side effects. You can submit a report online via the CARM Adverse Reactions reporting form.
Reporting medication side effects is only useful when the information is accurately collated, referred to the manufacturer, updated on the Supplier fact sheet and is included in the informed consent process.
Example: How many months of Medsafe’s collation of adverse reaction information for Pfizer vaccine did it take for side effects to be identified and reported? Yet, overseas VAERS data was available well in advance of our vaccination campaigns for Covid.
I am not sold on this reporting mechanism when there is no available help for patients. Time for the NZ Govt to set up an appointed agency to deal directly with the ‘patients’ and undertake appropriate research and provide appropriate care pathways for those individuals subjected to long term implications resulting from medication adverse events.
Hint: the problem was not government’s reporting mechanism, it was the fact that government itself is a fake soap opera of Davos/Blackrock cronies and yes men pretending to be at odds with each other but at the end of the day all operating in lockstep.
The best, most accurate and up to date reporting system in the world is still worthless if the data it produces is manipulated, censored or just straight up ignored.