Drug safety, toxicology and pharmacovigilance
A drug has to be demonstrated to be reasonably safe and effective before it can enter the clinic (see Chapter 10 ). An integrated risk assessment will be made on…
Regulation of drug use
Drug regulation seeks to ensure the quality of the whole process of making and using a new medicine. Thus there are strict regulatory requirements to adhere to on the synthesis,…
Pharmacodynamics and the measurement of drug action
The action of drugs is usually measured by bioassay, which is the measurement of potency or activity of a drug using a biological response, using the principles of drug action…
Drug discovery and the development of small molecules
Drug discovery has evolved in the last 50–60 years from a purely phenotypic screening approach (compound libraries subjected to systems-based assays to identify compounds with biological effects) towards a target-based…
Pharmacology, drug names and classification systems
Pharmacology is derived from the ancient Greek word for a drug, pharmakon, and is the study of how drugs and xenobiotics affect body function and also how the body will…
A Call to Action
A Call to Action There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction. —John F….
Making Your Clinic a Lean, Mean, Vaccinating Machine
Making Your Clinic a Lean, Mean, Vaccinating Machine Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. —Helen Keller We, as clinicians, can do everything right. We…
It’s a Jungle Out There: Navigating Vaccine Advice in the News and on the World Wide Web
It’s a Jungle Out There: Navigating Vaccine Advice in the News and on the World Wide Web The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of…
Vaccine Ingredients—What Is All That Stuff Anyway?
Vaccine Ingredients—What Is All That Stuff Anyway? All things are poison, and nothing is without poison. The dosage alone makes it so a thing is not a poison. —Paracelsus There’s…
Influenza and HPV: A Closer Look at Two “Controversial” Vaccines—Point-Counterpoint, Part 3
Influenza and HPV: A Closer Look at Two “Controversial” Vaccines—Point-Counterpoint, Part 3 In a controversy, the instant we feel angry, we have already ceased striving for truth, and begun striving…
