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Medicine safety ‘needs international coordination’

Research

How quickly should a drug be withdrawn from the market if it causes harm? It sounds like a simple question, but the answer depends on where you live, Oxford University researchers have found.

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A systematic review led by Doctor Igho J. Onakpoya from Oxford University's Nuffield Department of Primary Health Care Sciences looked at 462 drugs withdrawn between 1953 and 2013. It showed that drugs banned on safety grounds in some countries are still legally available in others. Inconsistent regulation of drugs across the world means that people in developing nations are far less likely to see unsafe medications withdrawn.

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