Pharmacovigilance: a brief glimpse

  • Dr Roy Jobson Medunsa

Abstract

One of the ethical foundations of medical practice is the injunction: primum non nocere or 'first do no harm'. This is the basis of the ethical principle 'non-maleficence' in the principle-based approach to bioethics. However, as all practitioners know, every substance (including plain unadulterated H2O) can have unwanted or harmful effects - which are dependent on a variety of factors.

Author Biography

Dr Roy Jobson, Medunsa
MBChB (UCT), MPraxMed(Medunsa), HDipEdAd(Wits) Senior Family Physician/Clinical Pharmacologist, Dept. Pharmacology and Therapeutics
Issue
Vol 45 No 2 (2003)
Section
CPD
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