In France, pharmacovigilance relies mainly on spontaneous reporting of
adverse effects of drugs and on pharmacoepidemiologic studies. The ph
armacovigilance network is an official structure whose role is to info
rm physicians and pharmacists, to evaluate causality using standardize
d methods, and to establish a register of drug-related adverse events.
Some of the data generated by the pharmacovigilance system are presen
ted based on a review of the literature. Pharmacovigilance is a key so
urce of information that should serve to guide the development of medi
cal technologies and drugs with the goal of improving the safety of tr
eatments. The pharmacovigilance system should become an indispensable
tool for all those who work in the field of health.