Underreporting of Adverse Drug Events: a Look into the Extent, Causes, and Potential Solutions
Date
2023Item Type
ArticleAbstract
Adverse drug events (ADEs) represent a global public health challenge that impacts both patients and healthcare systems alike. ADE is defined as any harm caused by medication that could potentially be prevented [Citation1,Citation2]. Medication errors (MEs), among the many preventable ADEs, often stem from flaws in healthcare delivery system or healthcare professionals’ knowledge, workload, or competency issues; as a result, MEs can increase healthcare costs while negatively affecting patient health outcomes. Adverse drug reactions (ADRs), although unintended, may still occur even with appropriate medication usage and may have severe health implications [Citation1,Citation3]. Unfortunately, the methods used to assess their prevalence often understate its impact [Citation1,Citation2].
Underreporting of ADEs refers to the failure or incomplete reporting of incidents where patients experience harmful reactions from medications by healthcare providers, patients, or pharmaceutical companies. Examples include ADRs and MEs. Different countries, including the US, the UK, Canada, and Australia, have implemented reporting systems for medication errors and ADRs, such as FAERS in the US; Yellow Card Scheme in the UK; Canada Vigilance Program as examples of systems, which collect reports of adverse drug events from healthcare professionals and patients [Citation4–6]. Nonetheless, underreporting is still a widespread and ongoing problem [Citation7,Citation8].
To maintain medication safety, specific steps must be taken; however, without first understanding its extent and root causes it would be impossible to provide advice as to their implementation. Therefore, this commentary aims to assess the current state of under reporting of adverse drug events (ADEs) and identify their underlying causes. After this analysis, potential solutions to mitigate the problem will be discussed.
Author
Al Meslamani, Ahmad Z.