Sunday Times Reports on Flawed
Adverse Reaction Reporting Scheme

A major report in the Sunday Times Magazine (Death of the Magic Bullet, July 31) reported on the growing controversy surrounding the official system for reporting adverse side effects (ADRs) from prescription drugs.

With latest figures suggesting that prescribed medicines kill up to 20,000 people a year in Britain - six times as many as die on the roads in the UK - the Sunday Times report claimed that the Yellow Card system was failing to tell the whole picture about ADRs.

Part of the problem is that the scheme is a voluntary one, so it relies on health professionals being diligent about reporting ADRs. It also fails to take into account patient-reported ADRs. But of more concern to health campaigners is the fact that that the system is funded entirely by the pharmaceutical industry and that cards are checked and assessed by official bodies (the MHRA and CSM in Britain) which, traditionally, have had a high number of pharmaceutical industry representatives sitting on key committees.

The Sunday Times report says that the Yellow Cards, when they have been analysed independently, have often been found to lack important information, particularly in cases where death has occurred. The article also points out that the Medicines Act prohibits the public disclosure of information contained on Yellow Cards, thereby further protecting the interests of the pharmaceutical industry.
August 3, 2005