The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) has publically released troves of data related to drug side effects that it hopes will increase awareness of adverse drug events and lead to new developments in research. The more than 3 million reports document adverse drug events occurring between 2004 and 2013. These findings were previously only available through the use of Freedom of Information Act requests.
The release project is being called OpenFDA, and it utilizes a search query-based Application Program Interface (API) to cull large amounts of data and present the data to the user through an easily accessible interface. OpenFDA will allow software developers to build tools to identify signal safety concerns, conduct valuable research, and inform both consumers and health care professions of identified dangers in a timely manner.
OpenFDA will provide access to data in a familiar manner similar to viewing search results through Google. The open source nature of the database will allow software developers to build their own applications on top of OpenFDA, giving end users access to important information in an easily accessible and comprehensible manner.
This move by the FDA follows similar releases of clinical trial data by drug manufacturers working in cooperation with the National Institutes of Health. The FDA hopes that increased transparency in this area will expedite awareness by both consumers and health care professionals of the dangers of pharmaceuticals and lead to further developments in the field.
If you or someone you know have been injured by the side effects of a prescription drug, contact the attorneys at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner by calling (713) 222-7211 or 713-222-7211.