Adverse Effects

Anyone who has ever watched television has certainly seen a variety of advertisements for prescription drugs. Then somewhere during the commercial a disclaimer appears on the screen stating the various adverse effects that may arise from taking the pill. In case you cannot read the one point font on the screen, the announcer reads a laundry list of possible problems and makes it sound as if the side effects are not much more serious than a mosquito bite. The important thing is to get the prescription.

Enter Health Canada's Canadian Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring Program (CADRMP). "You can use this database to access information concerning suspected adverse reactions to Canadian marketed health products of pharmaceuticals, biologics (including blood products and therapeutic and diagnostic vaccines), natural health products, and radiopharmaceuticals, as reported to Health Canada through voluntary and mandatory reporting measures."