Are we pharmacovigilant enough in ophthalmic practice?

No drug is absolutely safe. Pharmacovigilance is the science related to detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects or any other possible drug-related problems. The ocular medications and devices can cause localized and systemic adverse effects. Not all adverse effects are known when a drug or device is launched in market because of limitations of clinical trials. Many adverse effects are recognized due to the spontaneous reporting of the vigilant doctors who observe and report such events encountered in their practice. Despite a large ophthalmic patient population base, India does not have robust adverse drug reaction (ADR) database because of lack of reporting culture. Government of India recently launched the Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI) to monitor ADRs and create awareness among the healthcare professionals about the importance of ADRs. Suspecting and reporting a possible drug reaction is very important in developing a safe and rational ophthalmic practice.