FDA network to track drug, device safety

The Food and Drug Administration is taking technology to a new level to police the safety of drugs and medical devices. The FDA is building a nationwide electronic system to continuously track drugs and devices. The idea is to pull together information from various registries rather than keeping the information sitting unused and unread in vertical silos, according to an article on nextgov.com.

Healthcare experts say it's a good idea, but its impact might be limited without more personal information about patients involved. The system will be built on anonymous patient data.

The consensus among participants at a recent privacy panel--including lawyers, privacy advocates and government officials--was that the system eventually will have to tell the FDA about adverse reactions in specific people with atypical medical conditions to be effective.

All data will be retrieved from electronic health records, currently being supported by the Obama administration as one way to keep down medical costs and provide better health services.

For more on the FDA project:
- see this nextgov.com article

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