To the Editor: With the proposed formation of the Australia New Zealand Therapeutic Products Authority (ANZTPA), the recent viewpoint article1 and accompanying editorial2 on systems of evaluating medicines were timely. Both reports provided interesting comments on existing systems and proposals for improving these in the future. However, I would like to comment on some omissions and errors in these articles.
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- 1. Kelman CW, Pearson SA, Day RO, et al. Evaluating medicines: let’s use all the evidence. Med J Aust 2007; 186: 249-252. <MJA full text>
- 2. Stanley FJ, Meslin EM. Australia needs a better system for health care evaluation [editorial]. Med J Aust 2007; 186: 220-221. <MJA full text>
- 3. Harrison-Woolrych ML, Coulter DM. PEM in New Zealand. In: Mann RD, Andrews EB, editors. Pharmacovigilance. 2nd ed. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, 2007: 317-332.
- 4. Clark DWJ, Harrison-Woolrych ML. The role of the New Zealand Intensive Medicines Monitoring Programme in identification of previously unrecognised signals of adverse drug reactions. Current Drug Safety 2006; 1: 169-178.
- 5. Harrison-Woolrych ML, Garcia-Quiroga J, Ashton J, Herbison P. Safety and usage of atypical antipsychotic medicines in children: a post-marketing prospective cohort study in New Zealand. Drug Safety 2006; 29: 986.
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