Focus on

Adverse reactions to self-medication: is self-care effective?
Focus Farmacovigilanza 2014;84(5):3
Self-care is not always effective, and this does not only apply to medication wrongly taken because it is left over from old prescriptions, or discontinued or changed in an arbitrary and inappropriate manner, but also self-medication or do-it-yourself medicines. Modern medicine is often excessive...
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Vitamin B12 deficiency and gastric secretion inhibitors
Focus Farmacovigilanza 2014;83(7):3
Cobalamine or vitamin B12 is a hydrosoluble vitamin, essential in the process of DNA synthesis, haematopoiesis and neuronal cell proliferation and maturation. Vitamin B12 deficiency is a relatively common condition, especially in elderly population, and is associated with potentially severe...
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How to (not) conduct a systematic review: the case of bevacizumab and ranibizumab
Focus Farmacovigilanza 2014;83(7):4
It was recently published in the International Journal of Ophthalmology a systematic review of the literature that compares the efficacy and safety of bevacizumab and ranibizumab in the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Zhang and his colleagues collected data from 4 randomized...
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The unsustainable success of spontaneous report
Focus Farmacovigilanza 2014;82(5):2
Once again this year the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) will publish the data of 2013 spontaneous reporting within the OsMed report, which will be presented during the summer. While waiting for this detailed report, let us analyse the situation on Focus Farmacovigilanza as we do every year. Even...
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The story of the 180 million euros antitrust sanction for Roche and Novartis
Focus Farmacovigilanza 2014;82(5):4
The facts On February 27, 2014 - as reported by newspapers and newscasts - the Italian Antitrust sanctioned Roche and Novartis with an overall fine equivalent to 180 million euros. According to the Antitrust motivation, the two multinationals would have illicitly agreed to prevent the diffusion of...
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Therapeutic error: patient’s safety at the core
Focus Farmacovigilanza 2014;81(3):2
The European Directive 2010/84/EU pledges pharmacovigilance on the front of the adverse events caused by therapeutic errors and inappropriate drug use: which opportunities arise and what critical points need to be solved yet?/p>Since July 2012, the new legislation allows a better management of...
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Statin treatment and onset of cough without pulmonary involvement
Focus Farmacovigilanza 2014;80(1):2
Three cases of cough in patients treated with atorvastatin Within the Viger project (Vigilance in geriatrics) three cases of cough induced by atorvastatin therapy have drawn our attention. In all cases the drug withdrawal determined symptomatology remission and in one case of rechallange the...
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Cardiovascular and metabolic risk associated to fluoroquinolones
Focus Farmacovigilanza 2013;79(11):2
Fluoroquinolones are wide-spectrum antibiotics largely used for treating infections – complicated and not – caused by susceptible bacteria. Even though they appear to be well tolerated, fluoroquinolones have been associated to several adverse reactions clinically relevant and potentially...
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Association between incretin mimetics and pancreas tumour: which evidence?
Focus Farmacovigilanza 2013;78(9):2
Incretin mimetics or GPL-1 mimetics (glucagon like peptide-1) are molecules used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. These drugs stimulate the GLP-1 receptors by acting as exogenous agonist (i.e. exenatide and liraglutide) or like inhibitors of the dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4), the...
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Spontaneous reporting keeps growing in Italy
Focus Farmacovigilanza 2013;76(5):2
Spontaneous reporting data for Italy in 2012 will be shortly published by the AIFA1 portal. Numbers are once again surprising (Figure 1): more than 29,000 reports, with a 35% increase respect to 2011. The increase is higher for drugs (+41%) than for vaccines (+7%). The reporting rate (489 reports...
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