Abstract :
Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) is a noxious and unintended response to a medicine which occurs at doses
normally used in human being. Pharmacovigilance (PV) is the process to monitor patient safety in practical
condition and analyse adverse events during the entire life cycle of a drug beginning from its trial phase to
post-marketing of the drug. Before medicines get authorised, they are tested in controlled trial conditions
within a smaller population for a limited length of time. Post authorization, drugs are used by a larger
population across various geographies without any control in place. So, it is very important to monitor
adverse effect caused by these medicines throughout their life cycle in order to identify and minimize
risks associated with the use of drug and enhance the knowledge of healthcare professionals. Under
reporting is a major obstacle in the PV system. Research shows that the major causes of under reporting
are lack of knowledge and awareness among healthcare professionals and also absence of established ADR
reporting system in various part of the world. Some other reasons of under-reporting included large number
of patients, lower doctor-patient ratio and common practice of self-medication. This article reviews the
research done on ADR under-reporting scenario with a focus on the factors leading to this obstacle in PV.
Keyword :
ADRAdverse Drug Reaction, PVPharmacovigilance, WHOWorld Health Organisation, UMCUppsala Monitoring Centre, AMCADRs Monitoring Centres, AIIMSAll India Institute of Medical, Sciences, CDSCOCentral Drugs Standard, Control Organization, ICSR Individual Case