Comparative, cross-sectional study of the format, content and timing of medication safety letters issued in Canada, the USA and the UK.
In this cross-sectional study, researchers evaluated medication safety letters issued by Health Canada, the United States Food and Drug Administration, and the United Kingdom Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency over a 4-year period to evaluate consistency of structure and content as well as timing and commonality of subject matter. They found significant differences in the medication safety letters issued by all three agencies with regard to both the timing and the focus. The authors suggest that better coordination across these bodies might improve patient safety.