Pharmacovigilance implemented by patients: A necessity in the 21st century.

Pharmacovigilance should become a well-thought-out reflex for each of us, for any drugs taken on prescription or by self-medication. The issue of pharmacovigilance should naturally take its place in the dialogue between patients and health professionals, through advice given before medication is taken. Patients need to be told the importance of notifying any adverse drug reactions (ADRs). Pharmacovigilance would then become a post-hoc way of protecting patients. The importance of using pharmacovigilance should be promoted by emphasizing the fact that the life of a drug really starts after its marketing. This state of mind could be reinforced by a wider advertising campaign on the possibility of notifying the relevant authorities of any ADRs. Patient associations should encourage and help their members to do this. Notifying any ADRs should become a concern for all medical and paramedical staff: those who prescribe drugs, those who dispense them (pharmacists or pharmacy assistants), those who administer them (nurses), but also the consumers (patients) whose place is becoming more and more prominent.