[Recording of possible side effects in the Bureau for Side Effects of Drugs and research activities in 1992].

In 1992, the Netherlands Centre for Monitoring of Adverse Reactions to Drugs received 1248 reports of suspected adverse reactions. The most important reports concerned chest pain to sumatriptan, cholestatic hepatitis to itraconazole and taste loss to terbinafine. Other important reports pertained to confusion and hallucinations in children on deptropine, postasphyctic encephalopathy of a newborn after intrapartum administration of nalbuphine, torsades de pointes to terodiline, fever to neuroleptics, muscle necrosis to intramuscular administration of diclofenac, gout during use of acetylsalicylic acid, psychic effects of vigabatrine and sudden death during fluorescence angiography. It is the policy of the Netherlands centre to publish as many relevant reports as possible in order to facilitate medical practitioners to adapt their pharmacotherapeutic choice. In close collaboration with several universities, the Netherlands centre currently develops systems and methods for postmarketing surveillance.