Clinicians Report Medication Harms at âPersonal and Professional Perilâ
Clinicians were sued by the pharmaceutical industry, received verbal threats, and at least one lost his job after reporting adverse effects.
2022
A new study documents what happens after clinicians report âvery serious adverse drug/device reactions (ADRs)â of medications experienced by their patients. To be defined as a âvery serious ADR,â it had to be caused by âsevere toxicity,â according to the researchers. They focused on drugs with large settlements and large numbers of documented harmed patients. This ensures that the reported events were true and accurate.
The paper revealed that even after clinicians made these reports, there was a long delay before the pharmaceutical company responsible would admit the harms to regulators. Eventually, these reports cost the pharmaceutical industry tens of billions of dollars in fines and lawsuits. But before then, the clinician