Patients can be reassured about the quality of medicine for several reasons. Firstly, medicine must meet strict standards set by regulatory agencies such as the FDA in the United States and the EMA in Europe before they are approved for use by the public. These agencies thoroughly evaluate the safety, efficacy and quality of medicine to ensure that they are safe and effective for their intended use. Secondly, once a medicine is approved and on the market, pharmacovigilance systems are in place to continuously monitor the safety of the medicine. This includes the detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects or any other medicine-related problems. Any potential issues are identified and addressed quickly to minimize the risk of harm to patients. Thirdly, manufacturing of medicine must meet good manufacturing practices (GMP) which are guidelines that set standards for the design, monitoring and control of manufacturing processes and facilities. This ensures that the medicine are consistently produced and controlled according to the quality standards appropriate to their intended use and as required by the marketing authorization.
All these measures together help to ensure that the medicine available to patients are of high quality and safe for use.
