Estimating the number and cause of serious injuries and deaths. Without this information, it is impossible to determine if serious injuries associated with adverse effects of prescription drugs are declining, or if an epidemic of drug-induced injury may be taking place. Identifying new serious reactions. Reports of adverse reactions to recently marketed drugs are collected from consumers, physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and other health professionals. But the authors point out that the FDA estimates only about one percent of adverse events are ever reported.
Cancer is the classic example.
Monitoring the effect of previous safety alerts. The FDA has no organized program to check whether important warning messages about product labeling about drug use are being heeded. But the limited information available suggests that some warnings are not received, or have little effect. Even if the pharmaceutical industry, already the nation's most profitable as measured by return on investment, passes on the whole burden to consumers, the added cost would be small. Patients presenting with congestive heart failure also received care that was more discordant with guideline recommendations.