Transcript J Hasford

Bridging the Gap Research into Practice
Pharmacovigilance Research
and Patient Safety Policies
Prof. Joerg Hasford, M.D., Ph.D.
German Pharmacovigilance Study Group
IBE
Department of Medical Informatics, Biometry and
Epidemiology, University of Munich, Germany
Email: [email protected]
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J. Hasford
Munich
Frequency of ADR-related
Hospital Admissions
Meta-Analysis of 25 publications
covering medical departments
Median (all):
Median (age > 60):
5.8%
10.2%
Mühlberger N, Schneeweiss S, Hasford J.
Pharmacoepidem Drug Safety 1997; 6 Suppl. 3: S71-S77.
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J. Hasford
Munich
Direct Costs of ADR-related
Hospital Admissions in Germany
• 4.5 Mio Admissions to Medicine
Departments / year
• 5.8% due to ADR
• 8.7 days median length of stay
• 310 € costs per day in hospitals (2000)
704,000,000 € / year
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J. Hasford
Munich
Preventability of ADRs
Meta-Analysis of 14 publications
30.7% (median) of ADRs leading to
hospital admission are preventable.
Goettler M, Schneeweiss S, Hasford J.
Pharmacoepidem Drug Safety 1996;6 Suppl.3:S79-S90
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J. Hasford
Munich
Pharmacovigilance
The science and activities relating
to the detection, assessment,
understanding and prevention of
adverse effects or any other drugrelated problem.
WHO
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J. Hasford
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Pharmacovigilance
 collects, records, codes ADEs / ADRs
 analyses and assesses the reports
 promotes the safe use of drugs
 creates appropriate structures and means of
communication needed to perform its tasks
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J. Hasford
Munich
Aims of Pharmacovigilance
 to improve patient care and safety
 to improve public health and safety
 to contribute to the assessment of benefit, harm,
effectiveness and risk of medicines
 to promote education and clinical training
 to promote effective communication to the public
 to promote rational and safe use of medicines
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J. Hasford
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Safe Use of Drugs ?
Antibiotics use in pregnancy
in Germany 2000/2001
Tetracyclines count among the 10 most
prescribed antibiotics during pregnancy
(1/1000 pregnant women).
It is well known for more than 30 years
that tetracyclines can severely damage
teeth and bone structures of the fetus.
Actions in Germany: None
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J. Hasford
Munich
Safe Use of Drugs ?
The Case of digitoxin-intoxication
Intoxications with digitoxin count still among
the most common causes of ADR-related
hospital admissions (12 - 14/10,000 / quarter
year).
The therapeutic benefit of digitoxin is rather
limited, however.
Actions in Germany: None
Hippius M et al. Int J Clin Pharmacol 2001;39:336-343.
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J. Hasford
Munich
Safe Use of Drugs ?
The case of long acting beta agonists
There are two large randomized trials, both
showed an increased mortality with salmeterol.
Mortality
Castle et al. 1993 Salmeterol vs Salbutamol 0.32% vs 0.24%
SMART 2002
Salmeterol vs Placebo
0.31% vs 0.24%
Number needed to harm (kill):
1250 - 1428 patients
Actions in the U.S.: Dear Dr. Letter
Black Box Warning
Germany:
None
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J. Hasford
Munich
The Problem is:
Who is responsible for Patient Safety?
 EU-Regulations
 National Law
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Munich
Market Authorization Holder
 collect, collate, validate and follow up (SAEs) of all
reported suspected Adverse Events
 screen the relevant world-wide literature at least
once / week
 report all serious suspected ADRs within 15 days
 submit PSURs
 company-sponsored Post-Authorisation Safety
Studies
 regularly checks risks and benefits and acts
accordingly
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Drug Authority
 collect, validate, code, store and analyse
reports
 transmit ADR data to the MA holder
 inform health care professionals and, when
needed, treated patients, of any significant
changes
 Decision Making
 Communication with all interested parties
 Evaluation of the actions taken
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J. Hasford
Munich
Summary of the Role and the Responsibilities
Marketing Authorisation
Holder
• Establish and maintain a system, accessible at a single point in the EU, to collect,
collate, and evaluate pharmacovigilance data
• Meet legal obligations for reporting suspected adverse drug reactions
• Meet legal obligations regarding the preparation and the submission of PSURs
• Respond fully to requests from authorities for additional information necessary for
the evaluation of the benefits and risks of a medicinal product
• Ensure the Marketing Authorisation is maintained and reflects the latest information
Member States
• Have in place national pharmacovigilance systems
• Inform the European Commission, the CPMP, the Agency, the member states and
the MAHs of any relevant actions
• Collect and collate risk / benefit data
• Provide serious ADRs which have occurred in its territory to the Agency and the
relevant MAH within 15 calendar days of receipt
• Identify and evaluate drug safety alerts and conduct risk / benefit evaluations
• Provide representation on CPMP, PhVWP and Rapporteurs / Co-Rapporteurs
• Implement Commission Decisions
• In case of urgent action to protect public health, suspend the use of the product in
the member state’s territory and inform, in accordance with the legislation, the
Agency and the European Commission of the basis for action
Volume 9 - Pharmacovigilance
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J. Hasford
Munich
The Problem is:
There are a lot of laws and regulations, but with
very little impact on routine medical care, except
when a drug is withdrawn from the market.
There are too many parties involved, e.g.
hospitals, physicians, sickness funds, patients,
industry, government institutions, media, jurisdiction and the like, but there is
No institution solely devoted on
Patient Safety
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Patient Safety Policies
October 2004
The World Alliance for Patients’ Safety
was launched.
AIMS
• to coordinate international actions and avoid
duplication of effort in coping with escalating
problems of iatrogenic disease and health
care misadventures
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Edwards RI. The WHO World Alliance for Patient Safety - A New Challenge or an
Old One Neglected? Drug Safety 2005;28:379-386.
Pharmacovigilance Planning
 starts PV early, i.e. before the license is
granted
 is proactive
 tries to demonstrate safety, as opposed to
looking for harm
Tools
 Pharmacovigilance Specification
 Pharmacovigilance Plan
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Pharmacovigilance Specification (PVS)
 Summary of the identified risks, the potential
risks and any important missing information
 All relevant data, e.g. preclinical toxicology,
pharmacology, target organ findings, potential for
interactions and all clinical data collected during
the phases of drug development are evaluated.
 Assessment of trials population vs. patient
population (e.g. women, children)
 Consideration of class effects for the medicine
at time of submission / approval
Tsinitis P and La Mache E. Drug Safety 2004;27:509-517.
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J. Hasford
Munich
Pharmacovigilance Plan
 is based on PV specification
 includes appropriate proposals for
key issues as identified in the PVS,
e.g. epidemiological studies
 provides the rationale for such
studies, the objectives and milestones for evaluation
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J. Hasford
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Starting points for improvement
 A concerted action with transparent and comprehensive responsibilities is essential
 Annual reports about the state of patient safety
in health care  competition
 Access to the data
 Pharmacovigilance Planning and Risk Management
 Systematic and continuous use of pharmacoepidemiologic data bases, e.g. GPRD
(UK, PHARMO (NL), MEMO (Scotland)
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 Low threshold AE-reporting systems
 regional (i.e. at least EU-member state level)
ADR and Drug Utilisation monitoring
 Effective strategies to modify physicians’
prescribing and patients’ compliance are
urgently needed
 More use of modern information technologies
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J. Hasford
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Conclusions
 ADEs are a major public health threat with
significant financial cost implications.
 Pharmacovigilance has made and will make essential contributions to the safer use of medicines.
 There is still a considerable gap between the
results of Pharmacovigilance research and
medical practice.
 A concerted action of all parties involved and a
reliable and proactive partner are essential to gain
the full benefit of pharmacovigilance research.
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J. Hasford
Munich