Pharmacovigilance in Clinical Practice: From Adverse Drug Reaction Detection to Personalized Risk Management

The science of pharmacovigilance is defined as the activities related to the detection, assessment, understanding, and communication of adverse effects of medicines. Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are usually of predictable, idiosyncratic, chronic, delayed, withdrawal, failure of treatment, or genetic types. Special populations, including the elderly, pregnant women, and those with organ impairment, are more susceptible. Methods of detecting adverse drug reactions include spontaneous reporting, electronic health records, patient surveys, active surveillance, and analytics using artificial intelligence. These are aided by standardized scales for causality assessment and severity. Clinical scenarios of Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAID)-induced gastrointestinal bleeding, clozapine-induced Drug Reaction with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms (DRESS), and interactions between warfarin and fluoroquinolones highlight the practical application of pharmacovigilance in clinical practice, leading to changes in prescribing patterns. Looking ahead, the focus of pharmacovigilance will be on the use of real-world evidence, pharmacogenomics, artificial intelligence, and global collaboration for better proactive risk management, ensuring safe, personalized medicine, and better patient outcomes.