Reporting side effects should be easier with the new portal

01.10.2018 11:41

The new portal Nebeneffekten.pei.de is intended to make it easier for those affected to report side effects of medication. The initiators (Federal Institute for Medicines BfArM and Paul Ehrlich Institute) offer patients four options. Pharmaceutical companies and authorities can also learn from the reports how the use of medications can be made even safer. The Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (vfa) welcomes the activation of the portal.

According to the vfa, reports of side effects after taking medication are valuable because pharmaceutical companies and authorities learn from them how the use of medication can be made even safer. The association therefore welcomes the fact that the German medicines authorities BfArM and Paul Ehrlich Institute activated a particularly user-friendly reporting portal for side effects at the end of September 2018: side effects.pei.de. Users would be guided through the reporting form in simple steps; There are clear explanations if necessary.

This means that anyone who wants to report a side effect can now choose between four simple ways: You can (1) ask your doctor to report the side effect; You can also ask (2) a pharmacist to do this; you can report the side effect at Nebeneffekten.pei.de; or you can contact (4) the manufacturer. No matter where the report was made: it will be entered into the EU's large side effects database within a short period of time. This is also illustrated by a graphic at: www.vfa.de/nebeneffekt-melden.