Changing the Indian culture in reporting adverse drug reactions

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are the sixth global leading cause of death among hospitalized patients and the incidence of serious ADRs in these patients is 6.7% (Joshi et al).

India is the world's second most populated country with over one billion potential drug consumers, and a value of $1 billion worth of clinical trials, therefore it is very important to focus the attention of the medical community on the importance of the adverse drug reporting to ensure maximum patient health.

Viraj Suvarna, medical director at independent German drug major Boehringer Ingelheim - who will be speaking at the Pharmacovigilance India Summit  due to take place in Mumbai, India, June 27-29, has said that while multinational pharmaceutical companies which operate in India clearly have very stringent adverse event reporting requirements, doctors are reluctant to report adverse events.