Use and Safety of Anthroposophic Medicinal Products: An Analysis of 44,662 Patients from the EvaMed Pharmacovigilance Network.

Background: There is a need for data on the clinical safety of anthroposophic medicinal products (AMPs).

Objectives: The main objective of this analysis was to determine the frequency of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) to AMPs, relative to the number of AMP prescriptions.

Methods: EvaMed (Evaluation of Anthroposophic Medicine) was a prospective pharmacovigilance study with the patients of 38 physicians in outpatient care in Germany.

Medication and falls in elderly outpatients: an epidemiological study from a German Pharmacovigilance Network.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between fall risk increasing drugs (FRIDS) and the risk of falls in regard to fall-related chronic diseases. In total, 39 primary care physicians in Germany participated in the EvaMed Pharmacovigilance Network. Antihypertensives, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, hypnotics and sedatives, antidepressants and psycholeptics were labelled as FRIDS.

Monitoring of antimicrobial resistance on the basis of the E.U. Zoonoses Directive.

The new zoonoses Directive 2003/99/EC gives the opportunity for an improvement in the harmonization of antimicrobial resistance testing of zoonotic agents. The current reporting system under Council Directive 92/117/EEC was a voluntary approach leading to a limited comparability of the data. In the directive 2003/99/EC, inforced since June 2004, antimicrobial susceptibility testing is part of the legislation.