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Adverse Drug Reactions

When the Risk Becomes a Reality for Patients

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Abstract

Communications about the safety of medicines are complex and generally poorly performed. Discussions may not be initiated by healthcare professionals and the lack of a ‘common language’ to express risk can cause confusion. In the event of a serious adverse drug reaction, prior failures in communication can cause difficulties, and patients may fail to receive adequate information about the nature of their experience. How to communicate openly with patients in order to minimize distrust and maximize future benefits from medicines requires exploration.

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Acknowledgements

No funding was provided for this article and the authors have no conflicts of interest.

This article is part of a theme issue co-edited by Priya Bahri, European Medicines Agency, UK, and Mira Harrison-Woolrych, New Zealand Pharmacovigilance Centre, New Zealand. No external funding was used to support the publication of this theme issue.

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Correspondence to Anthony R. Cox.

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Cox, A.R., Butt, T.F. Adverse Drug Reactions. Drug Saf 35, 977–981 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03261985

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