The document describes a proposed in-house method for assessing the quality and completeness of individual case safety reports (ICSRs) submitted to the National Coordination Centre of the Pharmacovigilance Programme of India. The method assigns completeness scores to ICSRs based on 16 reporting parameters like report title, patient information, drug details, and case narrative. Indian ICSR completeness scores significantly improved after implementing this method, reaching 0.91 in 2014 and 0.93 in the third quarter of 2015. The authors conclude that higher quality ICSRs can help more effectively identify new drug safety signals and provide evidence-based information for regulating drug safety.
Pharmacovigilance at NRSMC for last 2yrs and serial look since dec, 2014 ju...Anindya Banerjee
Comparison of ADR monitoring data over 2 consecutive years
&
A study of ADR monitoring data over 4.7 years in a tertiary care teaching hospital of East India
Spontenous adr reporting in india
PASSIVE survillence system, data assement
data aciqsition, data interpretation, what all information required in ADR form, WHEN TO REPORT
BLUE CARD,YELLOW CARD, WHO CODES
Pharmacovigilance at NRSMC for last 2yrs and serial look since dec, 2014 ju...Anindya Banerjee
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A study of ADR monitoring data over 4.7 years in a tertiary care teaching hospital of East India
Spontenous adr reporting in india
PASSIVE survillence system, data assement
data aciqsition, data interpretation, what all information required in ADR form, WHEN TO REPORT
BLUE CARD,YELLOW CARD, WHO CODES
The slides from the keynote given by Dr. Dan Malone RPh, PhD at the First International Drug-Drug Interaction Knowledge Representation Workshop on October 6th 2014 (http://icbo14.com/sessions/drug-drug-interaction-knowledge-representation-workshop/). Posted with his permission.
Toward semantic modeling of pharmacogenomic knowledge for clinical and transl...Richard Boyce, PhD
A project update describing the semantic annotation of pharmacogenomics statements in drug product labeling. An innovative aspect of the work is the use of the W3C Open Annotation standard for publishing semantic annotations.
Outsourcing is a Cost-effective strategy when used properly and at present is gaining more and more importance. Here's a short presentation about the importance of outsourcing in Clinical research.
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This is the presentation on Role of advancement in instrumentation in pharmacodynamic evaluation of drugs
in clinical trials.
CONTENTS
Concept of medical instrument and instrumentation
Centrifuge
PCR
HPLC
Flow cytometry
Mass SPECTROMETRY
Minimally invasive technologies in PD
Conclusion
The autumn edition of Life magazine from St Columba's Hospice, featuring inspirational stories from patients and supporters plus the latest news and events.
The slides from the keynote given by Dr. Dan Malone RPh, PhD at the First International Drug-Drug Interaction Knowledge Representation Workshop on October 6th 2014 (http://icbo14.com/sessions/drug-drug-interaction-knowledge-representation-workshop/). Posted with his permission.
Toward semantic modeling of pharmacogenomic knowledge for clinical and transl...Richard Boyce, PhD
A project update describing the semantic annotation of pharmacogenomics statements in drug product labeling. An innovative aspect of the work is the use of the W3C Open Annotation standard for publishing semantic annotations.
Outsourcing is a Cost-effective strategy when used properly and at present is gaining more and more importance. Here's a short presentation about the importance of outsourcing in Clinical research.
For all five YouTube Live video lecture series of this topic click:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBVbJ9HCa1Bbn9IE6c4MagVHZMNNinJov
For More Such Learning You Can Subscribe to
My YouTube Channel:
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Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/asacademylearningforever
Website Blog: https://itasacademy.blogspot.com/
This is the presentation on Role of advancement in instrumentation in pharmacodynamic evaluation of drugs
in clinical trials.
CONTENTS
Concept of medical instrument and instrumentation
Centrifuge
PCR
HPLC
Flow cytometry
Mass SPECTROMETRY
Minimally invasive technologies in PD
Conclusion
The autumn edition of Life magazine from St Columba's Hospice, featuring inspirational stories from patients and supporters plus the latest news and events.
Assessment of Good Pharmacy Practice (GPP) in Pharmacies of Community Setting...iosrphr_editor
The IOSR Journal of Pharmacy (IOSRPHR) is an open access online & offline peer reviewed international journal, which publishes innovative research papers, reviews, mini-reviews, short communications and notes dealing with Pharmaceutical Sciences( Pharmaceutical Technology, Pharmaceutics, Biopharmaceutics, Pharmacokinetics, Pharmaceutical/Medicinal Chemistry, Computational Chemistry and Molecular Drug Design, Pharmacognosy & Phytochemistry, Pharmacology, Pharmaceutical Analysis, Pharmacy Practice, Clinical and Hospital Pharmacy, Cell Biology, Genomics and Proteomics, Pharmacogenomics, Bioinformatics and Biotechnology of Pharmaceutical Interest........more details on Aim & Scope).
PHARMACOVIGILANCE COMMON JOB INTERVIEW QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS-Updated IN 202...Pristyn Research Solutions
Quick Job interview short guide For Pharma and all Life science jobseekers.All Medical | Biotech |Micro |B.Sc., M.Sc.
These are the commonly asked questions with their answers asked in job interviews. The file was updated in 2022.
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Sample Questions are:
What is Pharmacovigilance (PV)?
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Pharmacovigilance and Materiovigilance, Drugs and Cosmetics Actshashi sinha
Due to side effects of Medicines and Medical Devices increasing day by day it is important to monitor the Adverse Events arising out of use of Medicines and Medical Devices. The Pharmacovigilance and Materiovigilance monitors adverse events arising our of usage of Drugs and Medical Devices respectively. This chapter also deals with Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 and their important provisions.
Pharmacovigilance and Materiovigilance, Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940shashi sinha
Pharmacovigilance and Materiovigilance monitors the adverse events arising out of use of Medicines and Medical Devices. This chapter also takes an overview of drugs and control act 1940. It is important to know about the side effects of medical devices and drugs and how to report the adverse events arising out of the usage of Drugs and Medical Devices
Slides includes ADR monitoring process, Safety reporting, what is pharmacovigilance, types of ADR, basic terms in ADR monitoring, what is PvPI in India, role. stakeholders, ADR reporting form, Apps, Role of community Pharmacist in ADR monitoring, Importance of ADR monitoring, etc.
These questions are for those who are looking to get a job in
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however these are just some common questions that can be
asked. In order to obtain more knowledge on pharmacovigilance
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pharamcovigilance, role of pharmacist in Pharmacovigilance and ADRs reportingGaurav Chhabra
Pharamcovigilance, Adverse drug reactions, ADR, process of Pharmacovigilance, Pharmacist, role of Pharmacist in Adverse drug reactions ADR reporting, Pharmacovigilance programme of india pvpi, Adr reporting form, need of Pharmacovigilance.
The safe use of medicines is perhaps the single most important criteria that any regulatory authority within a given country has to ensure in order both to protect the public health and the integrity of its health care system. For the same purpose pharmacovigilance was established. According to WHO, Pharmacovigilance is the science and activities related to the collection, detection, and assessment of ADR’s. It promotes the systematic, rational use and assures the confidence for the safety of drugs. It improves patient care and safety. Significance of pharmacovigilance is growing as the patients or consumers have become more responsive about the advantage and hazard of medicines. Pharmacovigilance is a complex process and a robust system is essential to undertake the activity. A good pharmacovigilance system will identify the hazard aspects in the short period of time. This review article tries to explain the some basic principles, history and developments, methods and some scope of this developing field i.e. Pharmacovigilance in India.
Similar to Therapeutic Innovation & Regulatory Science-2016-Kumar-464-71 (20)
1. Product Safety: Original Research
Best Practices for Improving the
Quality of Individual Case Safety
Reports in Pharmacovigilance
Rishi Kumar, MPharm1
, Pranay Kumar, MPharm1
,
Vivekanandan Kalaiselvan, MPharm, PhD1
,
Ismeet Kaur, MPharm1
, and G. N. Singh, MPharm, PhD1
Abstract
Background: The quality of individual case safety reports (ICSRs) plays a vital role in identifying new safety signals in pharma-
covigilance. This article focuses on establishing a method for ensuring the quality data. Objective: To develop an in-house method
for assessing the documentation grading and completeness score of ICSRs. Methods: In the proposed method, 16 parameters,
from report title to case narrative, are adopted to assess the quality of ICSRs. The in-house method ensures the completeness of
the data and enhances the quality of ICSRs. Results: The in-house method was found effective in calculating the completeness score
of ICSR ranges from 0.05 to 1. Indian ICSR completeness scores significantly improved after the implementation of the proposed
method in the third quarter of 2013. In 2014 and until the third quarter of 2015, the score was found to be 0.91 and 0.93 out of 1,
respectively. Conclusion: The higher quality ICSRs aids in more effective identification of new drug safety alerts and provides
evidence-based information for regulating the drug safety.
Keywords
pharmacovigilance, Completeness score, adverse drug reactions, safety signals
Introduction
Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are a major cause of concern
for morbidity and mortality, and hence their monitoring
becomes a major element of pharmacovigilance for ensuring
medicine safety.1–4
In 2010 in India, the Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare launched the Pharmacovigilance Programme
of India (PvPI) to monitor ADRs. The PvPI is coordinated by
the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission as a National Coordi-
nation Centre (NCC).3–6
The PvPI aims to generate reports
through ADR monitoring centers (AMCs) and other stake-
holders to identify new sources of suspected ADRs.7
The infor-
mation gathered therein is reviewed and assessed to provide
inputs to the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation
(CDSCO) for appropriate regulatory intervention.
The NCC plays a pivotal role in creating awareness in the
health care profession to understand the concept of pharmacov-
igilance and report ADRs. Also, regular hands-on training is
imparted to the stakeholders, contributing to skill development.
As a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) Pro-
gramme for International Drug Monitoring, India through the
PvPI has made a significant contribution to the WHO interna-
tional database of suspected ADRs at the Uppsala Monitoring
Centre (WHO-UMC) in Sweden. The major challenge for the
NCC is to assess the quality of individual case safety reports
(ICSRs) through spontaneous reporting. The quality of ICSRs is
addressed by ensuring the completeness of the information pro-
vided by the reporter, such as suspected medicine, causality,
patient details, case narrative, outcome, seriousness of the event,
etc. Initially, there was a dearth of ICSRs, as the above compo-
nents were not minutely addressed by the reporter.8,9,11
This
signified the need to develop a method to assess the quality of
ICSRs, which helps in identifying signals. The completeness
score for Indian ICSRs in the global database is encouraging.3
Methodology
Documentation grading is a system used to measure the quality
and quantity of the information provided on the ICSRs by the
AMCs. To ascertain the degree of completeness of an ICSR, a
1
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission,
Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
Submitted 27-Oct-2015; accepted 29-Jan-2016
Corresponding Author:
Rishi Kumar, MPharm, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Indian Pharma-
copoeia Commission, Sector 23, Rajnagar, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh 201002,
India.
Email: tawar.rishi@gmail.com
Therapeutic Innovation
& Regulatory Science
2016, Vol. 50(4) 464-471
ª The Author(s) 2016
Reprints and permission:
sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/2168479016634766
tirs.sagepub.com
by guest on June 29, 2016dij.sagepub.comDownloaded from
2. quantitative measure was defined. The weight for each report-
ing element is fixed on the basis of the gravity of information
required for ensuring the quality of ICSRs. To assign weight in
multiple drug-ADR combinations, the score for a particular
field is divided equally for each drug-ADR pair. The score
description and weight of each parameter considered for its
completeness is given in Table 1.
The total completeness score of an ICSR is calculated from
several field scores. The data fields that are implemented in the
completeness score include report title, seriousness, primary
source, patient information, patient sex, free text, reaction term,
outcome, drug name, drug information, action taken, indica-
tion, time onset, causality assessment, case narratives, and
compliance of in-house standard operating procedures. Of
these parameters, the following are in addition to the para-
meters used by WHO-UMC: report title, seriousness, patient
information (including patient initials and age), free text
(including 5 subparameters: results of test and procedure,
patient medical history, additional information, reporter’s com-
ment, sender’s comment), drug name, drug information
(including 5 subparameters: pharmaceutical form, route of
administration, authorization holder, dose, dosage regimen),
causality assessment, case narrative, and response to NCC.
Informative values of the fields, as described below, are
derived based on ICH E2B Guidelines.
A score is calculated for each drug-ADR combination sep-
arately, and the mean of all these forms the completeness score.
Only suspected and interacting drugs are included in the calcu-
lations. The completeness of ICSRs is required to be graded to
enable their quality assessment by applying the following mul-
tiplicative model:
Completeness score ¼
Yn
ði¼1Þ
ðð1 À wiÞ þ ðwi à fiÞÞ ð1Þ
where i indicates the field included in the score, wi is the field
weight, and fi is the field score.
Report Title
The ICSR sections begin with the report title, which gives the
uniqueness and identity. The report title should emphasize
the combination of ADR and drug. An example is given in
Table 2.
Seriousness
Seriousness is classified as yes or no. If yes, the reason must be
specified, as shown in Table 3.
Table 1. Scoring Pattern of Important Fields in ICSRs.
S. No. Field Score Description
Weight Given
by NCC-PvPI
1 Report title A full score is given if an allowed value has been entered. 0.05
2 Seriousness A full score is given if an allowed value has been entered. 0.1
3 Primary source A change in score might be due to a change in information of the following fields:
primary source, reporter’s qualification.
0.1
4 Patient information A change in score might be due to a change in information of the following fields: age
at time of onset, patient initials.
0.4
5 Patient sex A full score is given if an allowed value has been entered. 0.35
6 Free text A change in score might be due to a change in information of the following fields:
results of test and procedures, relevant medical history, reporter’s comments,
additional information (drug), sender’s comment.
0.05
7 Reaction(s)/event (s) A full score is given if an allowed value has been entered through WHO-ART. 0.05
8 Outcome A full score is given if an allowed value has been entered. 0.01
9 Drug name A full score is given if an allowed value has been entered through WHO-DD 0.05
10 Drug information A change in score might be due to a change in information of the following fields:
pharmaceutical form, route of administration, authorization holder, dose, dosage
regimen.
0.05
11 Action taken A full score is given if an allowed value has been entered 0.35
12 Indication A full score is given if an allowed value has been entered. Since indication is reported
on drug level, the score per ICSR is the average score of all suspected/interacting
drugs.
0.5
13 Time on set A change in score might be due to a change in information of the following fields: drug
start date, ADR date of on set.
0.15
14 Causality assessment A full score is given if an allowed value has been entered as per WHO causality scale. 0.05
15 Case narrative A full score is given if an allowed value has been entered. 0.05
16 Compliance of in-house standard
operating procedures
A full score is given if no query or resolve the query within 10 days by AMC. 0.01
17 Completeness Calculated on the basis of formula given in Equation 1 —
Abbreviations: ADR, adverse drug reaction; AMC, ADR monitoring center; ICSR, individual case safety report; NCC-PvPI, National Coordination Centre–
Pharmacovigilance Programme of India; WHO-ART, WHO Adverse Drug Reaction Terminology; WHO-DD, WHO Drug Dictionary; WHO, World Health
Organization.
Kumar et al 465
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3. Primary Source
The primary source section consists of details of the reporter,
such as name, qualification, department, and contact details.
Primary source information is considered as one of the vital
parts of an Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) to ensure quality
because the source reporter is the witness of the event. As per
the pharmacovigilance standards, reporter identity is among the
4 mandatory elements to assess the relatedness of the event.
The details of the primary source section are given in Table 4.
Patient Information
Patient information details, such as age at time of onset of
reaction/event and patient initials (patient name and identifying
information are not reported) are mentioned in the field. The
informative values for patient information scoring are given in
Table 5.
Patient Sex
A full score is given if the patient’s sex is categorized as male,
female, and other (transgender) in the field.
Free Text
This section consists of 5 subsections, the details of which are
given in Table 6. The relevant information on relatedness of the
Table 2. The Score Calculation for the Report Title Section of ICSRs.
Report ID Report Title Score
R1 Haematoma: Clopidogrel 1
R2 Clopidogrel 0
R3 Haematoma 0
R4 No title given 0
Abbreviation: ICSRs, individual case safety reports.
Note: In the case of multiple drugs and adverse drug reactions, suspected drug
needs to be demarcated from the concomitant drugs.
Table 3. The Score Calculation Information to Assess the
Seriousness of ICSRs.
Report ID Seriousness Reason for Seriousness Score
R1 Yes Death Any one
should be
marked
1
Life threatening
Congenital
anomaly
Hospitalization—
initial or
prolonged
Disability
Other
R2 Yes Reason of seriousness not selected 0
R3 No No need of reason 1
R4 Not
mentioned
Not mentioned 0
Abbreviation: ICSR, individual case safety report.
Table 4. The Score Calculation for the Primary Source Section
of ICSRs.
Report Id
Primary
Source
Reporter
Qualification
Primary Source
Score
R1 Yes Yes 1
R2 Yes Not mentioned 0.5
R3 Not mentioned Yes 0.5
R4 Not mentioned Not mentioned 0
Abbreviation: ICSRs, individual case safety reports.
Table 5. The Score Calculation for the Patient Information Section
of ICSRs.
Report ID Age at time of onset Patient initial Score
R1 50 RKV 1
R2 Not mentioned RKV 0.5
R3 50 Not mentioned 0.5
R4 Not mentioned Not mentioned 0
Abbreviation: ICSRs, individual case safety reports.
Table 6. Components to be Described in the Free Text to Improve
the Quality of ICSRs.
Field for Free Text Description
Result of test
procedure
This section should capture the tests and
procedures performed to diagnose or
confirm the reaction/event, including those
tests done to investigate (exclude) a nondrug
cause (eg, serologic tests for infectious
hepatitis in suspected drug-induced
hepatitis). Both positive and negative results
should be reported.
Relevant medical
history
This field should be used for providing
information pertinent to understanding the
case is desired such as diseases, conditions
such as pregnancy, surgical procedures,
psychological trauma, etc. and concurrent
condition can be described in this section.
Reporter’s
comments
This field should be used for comments from
the primary source that are relevant for all
reactions like diagnosis, causality assessment,
treatment and other issues related to the
reaction.
Additional
information
(drug)
This field should be used to describe the
information of fixed dose combination/
medical treatment/date of rechallenge/dose
reduces/labeling of drug and indication if no
suitable indication found.
Sender Comment This field should be used for any discussion or
alternative diagnoses from the sender
(person who sent the ICSR to the NCC).
This section provides the sender with an
opportunity to combine signs and symptoms
that were reported into a succinct diagnosis
and the reasoning.
Abbreviations: ICSRs, individual case safety reports; NCC, National
Coordination Centre.
466 Therapeutic Innovation & Regulatory Science 50(4)
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4. reaction/event is provided in these fields. The score for these
fields is calculated by taking into account the 5 related compo-
nents as given in Table 7.
Adverse Drug Reactions/Events
Coding of ADRs is one of the important compliance in ensur-
ing the quality of ICSRs as potential evidence in data mining
and signal detection.10
The reaction term and coding is done as
per WHO Adverse Drug Reaction Terminology (WHO-ART),
as given in Table 8.
Outcome
Whether the outcome of the reaction/event can be explained
depends on the appearance as given in Table 9; scores are
provided accordingly.
Drug Name
The suspected drug for the reasonable possibility of adverse
event is mentioned. This is judged by the clinical relevance and
experience of the reporter. Evidence-based information is also
referred to identify the suspected drug. The coding of drug is
done per the WHO Drug Dictionary (WHO-DD), as given in
Table 10.
Drug Information
Drug information details such as pharmaceutical form, route of
administration, authorization holder, dose, and dose regimen
are used for scoring in this field. Although it is not mandatory
to provide this information in VigiFlow, it is adopted at NCC-
PvPI as an improvement. The drug information scoring values
are given in Table 11.
Action Taken on Adverse Drug Reactions
The score for this section is calculated per the details given in
Table 12.
Table 7. Procedure for Calculating the Score of the Free Text Section in ICSRs.
Report ID
Free Text
Score
Result of Test
Procedure
Relevant Medical
History
Reporter’s
Comments
Additional
Information (Drug)
Sender
Comment
R1 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 1
R2 Yes Yes Yes Yes Not mentioned 0.8
R3 Yes Yes Yes Not mentioned Not mentioned 0.6
R4 Yes Yes Not mentioned Not mentioned Not mentioned 0.4
R5 Yes Not mentioned Not mentioned Not mentioned Not mentioned 0.2
R6 Not mentioned Not mentioned Not mentioned Not mentioned Not mentioned 0
Abbreviation: ICSRs, individual case safety reports.
Table 8. The Score Calculation for the Reaction(s)/Events Section
of ICSRs.
Report ID Reaction/Event WHO-ART Score
R1 A1 0030 PT/HLT/IT 1
R2 A2 Uncoded 0
R3 A1 0030 PT/HLT/IT 0.5
A2 Uncoded
R4 Not mentioned Not mentioned 0
Abbreviations: ICSR, individual case safety report; WHO-ART, WHO Adverse
Drug Reaction Terminology; WHO, World Health Organization.
Note: Free text was referred to obtain the information of event/reaction coding
if not coded in WHO-ART.
Table 9. The Score Calculation for the Outcome Section of ICSRs.
Report ID ADR Outcome
Option
Selected Score
R1 A1 Recovered/resolved Anyone 1
Recovering/resolving
Not recovered/not resolved
Recovered/resolved with
sequelae
Fatal
R2 A1 Unknowna
0
R3 A1 Anyone has marked 0.5
A2 If left unmarked
Abbreviations: ADR, adverse drug reaction; ICSRs, individual case safety
reports.
a
The value ‘‘unknown’’ is not considered (for information only).
Table 10. The Score Calculation for the Drug Name Section
of ICSRs.
Report ID Suspected/Concomitant Drug WHO-DD Score
R1 D1 Coded 1
R2 D1 Uncoded 0
R3 D1 Coded 0.5
D2 Uncoded
Abbreviations: ICSR, individual case safety report; MA, market authorization;
WHO-DD, WHO Drug Dictionary; WHO, World Health Organization.
Note: The name of the product pharmaceutical form, MA holder, etc, are
suggested if the suspected drug is not available with the WHO-DD.
Kumar et al 467
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5. Indication
The informative values are calculated as per the guidelines of
International Classification of Diseases (ICD) 8, ICD9 (includ-
ing supplementary codes), and ICD10. The informative values
are calculated as shown in Table 13.
Time Onset
Temporal relationship is one of the important criteria of assess-
ment of the causality of the adverse event. Time onset com-
prises drug start date and adverse event onset date. The
informative values are calculated as per Table 14.
Causality Assessment
Causality assessment (relatedness of drug and ADR) is carried
out according to the WHO causality scale, as per Table 15.
Case Narrative
If the reporter has less scope to enter the data in the above-
mentioned fields, opportunity is given to provide additional
information, which is required to establish causality and to
ensure quality of ICSRs. The reporters are followed up by
Table 11. The Score Calculation for the Drug Information Section of ICSRs.
Report ID Pharmaceutical Form Route of Administration Market Authorization Holder Dose Regimen Score
R1 Injection Intravenous – 250 mg OD 1
R2 Injection Intravenous – 250 mg Not provided 0.8
R3 Tablet Oral – Not provided Not provided 0.6
R4 Injection Intravenous Not provided Not provided Not provided 0.4
R5 Injection Not provided Not provided Not provided Not provided 0.2
R6 Not provided Not provided Not provided Not provided Not provided 0
Abbreviation: ICSR, individual case safety report; OD, overdose.
Note: Batch number of the pharmaceutical product is necessary in case of serious adverse event.
Table 12. The Score Calculation for the Action Taken on Adverse
Drug Reactions Section of ICSRs.
Report ID Drug Action Taken Score
R1 D1 Drug withdrawn Any one should be
marked
1
Dose reduce
Dose does not
change
Not applicable
Unknowna
R2 D1 Not mentioned 0
R3 D1 Drug withdrawn Any one should be
marked
0.5
Dose reduce
Dose does not
change
Not applicable
Unknowna
D2 Not mentioned
Abbreviation: ICSRs, individual case safety reports.
a
The value ‘‘unknown’’ is not considered (for information only).
Table 13. The Score Calculation for the Indication Section of ICSRs.
Report ID Drug Indication Code Score
R1 D1 486a
1
R1 D1 Not mentioned 0.67
D2 486a
D3 486a
R2 D1 3004a
0.50
D2 Not mentioned
R3 D1 Uncoded 0
R4 D1 Not mentioned 0
Abbreviations: ICD, International Classification of Diseases; ICSRs, individual
case safety reports.
a
Disease indication code as per the guideline of ICD.
Table 14. The Score Calculation for the Time Onset Section of
ICSRs.
Report ID Drug Start Date ADR Onset Date Time to Onset Score
R1 2010-08-08 2010-10-11 1
R2 2011-05-07 Not mentioned 0
R3 Not mentioned 2011-09-13 0
R4 2013-08-11 2010-11-11 0a
R5 Not mentioned Not mentioned 0
Abbreviations: ADR, adverse drug reaction; ICSRs, individual case safety
reports.
a
Date of ADR supersedes the date of drug start; therefore, a score of 0 is given.
Table 15. The Score Calculation for the Causality Assessment
Section of ICSRs.
Report ID Drug ADR
Perform Causality
(WHO Causality Scale) Score
R1 D1 A1 Yes 1
R2 D1 A1 Not mentioned 0
R3 D1 A1 Yes 1
D2 A2
D1 A2
D2 A1
R4 D1 A1 Yes 0.5
D2 A2 Yes
D1 A2 Not mentioned
D2 A1 Not mentioned
Abbreviations: ADR, adverse drug reaction; ICSRs, individual case safety
reports; WHO, World Health Organization.
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6. NCC-PvPI for a complete case narrative. The full score of 1 for
case narrative is given if information for all of the above-
discussed fields is entered. In addition, NCC-PvPI might seek
more information in specific cases.
Compliance of In-House Standard Operating Procedures
The full score is given to this field if the reporter responds to
the query or comments raised by the NCC within 10 calendar
days.
Completeness Score
The completeness score of an ICSR is calculated from the
information obtained regarding the above-mentioned 16 para-
meters by using Equation 1.
Results
The above methodology was adopted and implemented by
NCC-PvPI in September 2013 to assess the completeness of
ICSRs received from AMCs across the country. The complete-
ness score was increased or sustained in every quarter until the
third quarter of 2015. The completeness score for Indian ICSRs
received from WHO-UMC is given in Figure 1. Specifically,
the score of comments, dosage, indication, time to onset, and
outcome increased after implementation of the adopted
method. The WHO-UMC is considering the 10 parameters (age
at onset, patient sex, country, report type, primary reporter,
comments, dosage, indication, time to onset, outcome) for pro-
viding the completeness score for the National Pharmacovigi-
lance Centres. The NCC considers the above-mentioned 16
parameters in preparing the completeness score, and based on
this there has been a gradual increase in the completeness score
of NCC-PvPI.
Discussion
A robust PvPI has been established in the country.1-7
Several
initiatives have been taken to foster the culture of reporting. As
a result, India is the first country to report more than 100,000
ICSRs in VigiFlow.12
NCC-PvPI is also taking several mea-
sures to enhance the quality of ICSRs, such as advance level
training and skill development for PvPI personnel. The Quality
Review Panel (QRP) of PvPI is constituted by Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, to review
the quality of ICSRs. The panel also reviews and approves the
proposed methodology to implement in PvPI. The criteria laid
down in the methodology are in line with those of WHO-UMC,
such as age at onset, patient sex, country, report type, primary
reporter, comments, dosage, indication, time to onset, and out-
come. In addition to these, NCC has made it mandatory for the
AMCs to provide information on manufacturer details, free text
(with emphasis on laboratory findings if any, medical history,
additional information, reporters comment and sender’s com-
ment), drug information (this part includes formulation type,
dose, dosage regimen, route of administration and authoriza-
tion holder), action taken, causality assessment, case narrative,
and response to NCC. NCC-PvPI has also given different
weights to all 16 parameters adopted, as recommended by the
Quality Review Panel (see Table 1).
0.58
0.73 0.72 0.73 0.75 0.76 0.75 0.75
0.79
0.85 0.84
0.89 0.91 0.92 0.91 0.92 0.93
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
CompletenessScore
Year, Quarter
Figure 1. Completeness scores of Indian individual case safety reports by year and quarter.
Kumar et al 469
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7. The completeness score of ICSRs reported from India is
improving, in spite of the high volume of data. Since WHO
requires middle- and low-income countries to establish their
own signal detection system, a Signal Review Panel (SRP) has
been constituted under PvPI. The SRP consists of high-level
experts in India, including academicians and clinicians work-
ing for pharmacovigilance, and was formed under the PvPI in
order to analyze and review the identified signals proposed to
the panel members for final decision and submission to the
CDSCO for potential regulatory interventions. The function
of the SRP is expressed in Figure 2. The SRP and QRP con-
tribute significantly to enhance the quality of ICSRs. These
quality reports help the process of signal review activities in
India, and several recommendations are made on regulatory
interventions on medicine to the Indian National Regulatory
Authority.13
This method may be implemented in low- and
middle-income country members of the WHO Programme for
International Drug Monitoring. It will strengthen their pharma-
covigilance systems for generation of qualitative output. For
any regulatory intervention, a high-quality ICSR is of prime
importance to analyze the data.
Conclusion
The method described in this article aims to improve the
quality of ICSRs. In the proposed method, the completeness
score can be calculated based on the provided information in
16 fields of ICSRs. All the relevant fields are taken into con-
sideration to establish the causal relationship between the
drug and ADRs, as it plays a crucial role in ensuring quality
ICSRs. The gravity of the completeness score, which varies
from 0.05 to 1.0, depends on the amount of information pro-
vided in the ICSRs.
Acknowledgment
The authors are thankful to the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission for
providing support.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to
the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, author-
ship, and/or publication of this article.
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Data Processing at AMC/NCC
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Revert Back to
Reporter
Upgraded at
NCC
Clinical Relevance
Signal Review Panel
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Quality
ICSRs
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