The online educational resource is also expected to benefit doctors and other medical professionals, medical students and patient advocates.
Dr. Joseph Feczko, chief medical officer of Pfizer, said in a statement, "We want to increase understanding of the industry's system for ensuring medicine safety... Current information about drug safety is available through numerous, but fragmented channels, which can be challenging for healthcare professionals and patients as they discuss the risks and benefits of various treatments."
Feczko added, "Patient safety is the top priority for Pfizer, and as an industry leader, we are using our collective experience and knowledge to address this critical public health need."
The website has drawings and interactive tools to teach about medicine safety. It includes a link, the first pharmaceutical industry portal to do so, for reporting side effects of all drugs regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Safety concerns has led one-third of Americans surveyed in April 2007 by the Harris Poll not to take their prescribed medication, while more than 25 percent did not fill their prescription.
Doctors hailed the launch of the website. Dr. Steve Nissen, head of Cleveland Clinic's Cardiology department, told Boston Globe, "Too long, the perspective presented to the public has been that drugs are some magic bullet, that they do something good for you but that there's no downside."
Dr. Harlan Krumholtz, director of the Yale-New Haven Hospital Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation said, quoted by the Boston Globe, "The spirit of what they're doing is great... Whether this is the most effective way to assist patients to make the best decision for themselves, time will tell."
