Adverse drug events occur frequently and lead to a significant number of fatalities each year. It has been estimated that fatalities directly attributable to adverse drug reactions are the fourth to sixth leading cause of death in US hospitals, exceeding deaths caused by pneumonia and diabetes....

Objective: Sepsis occurs in a heterogeneous population. A prospective nationwide surveillance study found that populations stratified by infection type had significant differences in the incidence of sepsis syndrome, rate of complications and mortality. The objective of this study was to explore...

Epilepsy is an important health problem throughout the world. In order to best manage epilepsy within a population, its epidemiological profile should be established. Epidemiological studies have shown that epilepsy is a very common, chronic condition that particularly affects the young and...

Numerous studies have demonstrated that the therapeutic use of drugs results in adverse outcomes and contributes to high rates of morbidity and mortality. The causes of drug-related problems are multifactorial and their assessment has been based on factors such as inappropriate prescribing,...

Whereas individual cost-effectiveness analyses of new agents for acute leukaemia should be performed in target populations, any meaningful pharmacoeconomic evaluation of treatment options for this condition should include the many types of costs and outcomes in unselected, representative groups...

We reviewed the literature on the efficacy and effectiveness of beta-blocker therapy and examined the economic consequences of under-utilisation. Despite the literature documenting the value of beta-blockers, the therapy is not prescribed at the appropriate rates. Approximately half of acute...

Vinorelbine is a semisynthetic vinca alkaloid that is effective against advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Myelosuppression is the primary dose-limiting toxicity; vinorelbine is otherwise relatively well tolerated. Two studies assessed the cost effectiveness of vinorelbine with or...

Objective: Recent data indicate that the combination of a low cholesterol diet and simvastatin following heart transplantation is associated with significant reduction of serum cholesterol levels, lower incidence of graft vessel disease (GVD) and significantly superior 4-year survival rates than...

Objective: Data from the Acute Infarction Ramipril Efficacy (AIRE) study were used in a cost-effectiveness analysis to determine the incremental cost per life-year gained (LYG) when the ACE inhibitor ramipril was added to conventional treatment in patients with heart failure after acute...

Objective: To simulate the treatment of postmenopausal women with advanced breast cancer from second-line hormone therapy to death, and to generate estimates of the cost and effectiveness of letrozole and megestrol in order to determine the incremental cost effectiveness of letrozole, expressed...