Okuzeka
Pharmacy & Pharmacology vocabulary · Regulation and Medication Safety

Pharmacovigilance

Meaning in pharmacy & pharmacology, with examples

/ˌfɑrməkoʊˈvɪdʒələns/nounCommon term

In pharmacy & pharmacology, pharmacovigilance means: The science and activities of detecting, assessing, understanding and preventing adverse effects and other safety problems of medicines once they are on the market.

In Turkish: farmakovijilans, ilaç güvenliliği izlemi

How it is used

Built on spontaneous reports from health professionals and patients, such as the Yellow Card scheme in the UK and MedWatch in the US. Drug companies have pharmacovigilance departments and a qualified person responsible for it. Safety signals can lead to new warnings or even the withdrawal of a drug.

Example sentences

  1. She works in pharmacovigilance, assessing reports of side effects from across Europe.

  2. Pharmacovigilance picked up rare liver problems that the trials had missed.

Common collocations

  • pharmacovigilance system
  • pharmacovigilance department
  • safety signal
  • spontaneous reporting
  • adverse drug reactionA harmful and unintended response to a medicine used at normal doses, ranging from a mild rash to serious damage to the liver, kidneys or blood.
  • marketing authorisationThe official permission from a medicines regulator that allows a company to sell a medicine for specific uses, doses and patient groups.
  • side effectAn effect of a medicine that is not the main reason for taking it; most side effects are unwanted, such as nausea, drowsiness or a headache.
  • medication errorA preventable mistake in prescribing, dispensing, preparing, giving or monitoring a medicine, whether or not it actually harms the patient.

More terms: Regulation and Medication Safety

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level:

This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.