Health insurer to track drug safety

INDIANAPOLIS, April 16 (UPI) -- A major U.S. health insurer says it is developing a program to monitor the safety of drugs after they have been approved for market.

WellPoint Inc. said it is working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on the Safety Sentinel System, which is being designed to quickly identify safety risks associated with drugs and other clinical care decisions, the company said Tuesday in a news release.

"To rapidly and successfully identify emerging safety problems, we need to bring all health care stakeholders to the table," Dr. Janet Woodcock of the FDA said in a statement.

Dr. Jerry Avorn of Harvard Medical School said the problems surrounding drugs such as Vioxx and Avandia highlight the need for a reliable way to measure the safety of drugs once they've received FDA approval.

The system is expected to provide continual monitoring of WellPoint's 35-million member database to identify increases in health problems among members taking a given drug.

"This critical information will allow health care decision-makers including federal agencies, physicians, consumers and manufacturers to move far more quickly than in the past in addressing potential drug risks," Dr. Sam Nussbaum, WellPoint's chief medical officer said.