Publications by authors named "Jennifer Gonella"

Background: Antiplatelet drugs, such as clopidogrel, ticagrelor, prasugrel, and acetylsalicylic acid, may be associated with a risk of adverse events (AEs). Vanessa's Law was enacted to strengthen regulations to protect Canadians from drug-related side effects (with mandatory reporting of serious adverse events [SAEs]).

Objective: To determine whether Vanessa's Law has led to an increase in SAE reporting among antiplatelet users.

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Article Synopsis
  • - A study examined the prescription patterns of medications for patients with nasally placed feeding tubes (NPFT) and found that 92% were on polypharmacy (multiple medications) upon admission, decreasing slightly to 84.7% at discharge.
  • - High-alert medications (those that pose a significant risk if used inappropriately) made up over 17% of all prescriptions, with no significant change in their usage between admission and discharge.
  • - The study highlights the need for coordinated care strategies to manage the medication risks associated with NPFT patients, particularly given their complex health conditions.
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Background: The core motive of pharmacovigilance is the detection and prevention of adverse drug reactions (ADRs), to improve the risk-benefit balance of the drug. However, the causality assessment of ADRs remains a major challenge among clinicians, and none of the available tools of causality assessment used for assessing ADRs have been universally accepted.

Objective: To provide an up-to-date overview of the different causality assessment tools.

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Background: Patients with chronic or acute/postoperative pain frequently use opioids. However, opioids may cause considerable adverse reactions (ARs), such as respiratory depression, which could be lethal. Unfortunately, only 5% of drug-related ARs (including those to opioids) are reported to health authorities.

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Introduction: Post-marketing studies involve the detection and interpretation of potential problems associated with the use of a given drug. Post-marketing spontaneous pharmacovigilance systems, such as the Canada Vigilance program, may constitute a gold mine of free data for drug safety research. However, the quantity and the quality of data remain to be demonstrated.

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