The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 276 No 7385 p99
28 January 2006

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Suspected ADRs increase

Last year there were 1,013 deaths linked to adverse drug reaction (ADR) reports, up from 857 in 2004, health minister Jane Kennedy revealed last week.

The deaths were among 19,927 suspected ADR reports, an increase from 18,977 the previous year, she said in a Parliamentary written reply. The figures were collected through the yellow card scheme. Mrs Kennedy said: “The submission of a suspected ADR report does not necessarily mean that it was caused by the drug. Many factors have to be taken into account in assessing causal relationships, including temporal association, the possible contribution of concomitant medication and the underlying disease.”