OBJECTIVE To establish the relationship between subjective complaints of side effects of drugs and the objective presence of adverse drug reactions in older patients. DESIGN Observational cross-sectional study. SETTING Five medical wards at the University Hospital Rotterdam Dijkzigt. SUBJECTS Patients aged 70 and over admitted to the general medical wards over a 3-month period. METHODS ...

Ondansetron is a serotonin receptor antagonist used widely in the prophylaxis and treatment of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy. The common side effects of ondansetron are fever, malaise, diarrhoea, constipation, and allergic reactions. Extra-pyramidal reactions are rare and cardiovascular side effects are even rarer. Even though its clin...

BACKGROUND Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) vary from life-threatening anaphylaxis to minor common side-effects. OBJECTIVE To provide an overview on the assessment of ADRs. To discuss the features of what may be described as a 'reaction to a drug' in order to highlight those suggestive of allergy, side-effect or intolerance, and what implications this might have for the future use or avoidance o...

Medical research aims to discover more about health and to find new ways to treat or prevent diseases[1]. The beneficial medicines can cause side effects, which is why they are monitored for safety. Safety issues arise whenever medical choices have to be made[2]. During the period of treatment, prescribed drugs produce certain effects other than the desired or expected effects. These are genera...

The variation in individual responses to psychotropic drug treatment remains a critical problem in the management of psychotic disorders. Although most patients will experience remission, some patients may develop drug-induced adverse effects that may range from troublesome to life threatening. Antidepressants are freely prescribed by general practitioners, and there should be constant awarenes...

Cutaneous drug reactions make up the largest proportion of adverse events in the medical field. Causality, in particular, is difficult to determine, and therefore, preventing recurrent reactions can be challenging. Bendamustine was initially thought to be a well-tolerated chemotherapy agent with few side effects aside from bone marrow suppression. However, the incidence of cutaneous reactions r...

Dapsone first came into medicine as an antibacterial agent but was found to be less effective than other sulfonamides. Likewise its activity against tuberculosis was disappointing. Nevertheless, it has been the main stay in the treatment of leprosy. It also has some action against malaria and other parasites. Nowadays, after leprosy, dapsone has proved as a valuable drug in the treatment of a w...