#28 Catching black swans – François Montastruc

Send us a voicemail!Serious and unexpected adverse drug reactions – the ‘black swans’ of pharmacovigilance – can place enormous strain on safety monitoring systems. Drawing examples from the COVID-19 pandemic, François Montastruc from Toulouse University Hospital explains how we can get better at dealing with the unpredictable.Tune in to find out:What Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s ‘black swan’ theory has to do with pharmacovigilanceWhat makes an adverse drug reaction a black, white, or grey swan Why flexibility and communication are key to patient safetyWant to know more?Here are the research articles cited in the episode:Quality of reporting of adverse events in clinical trials of COVID-19 drugs: systematic reviewPsychiatric disorders and hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19: a VigiBase studyHepatic disorders with the use of remdesivir for COVID-19Serious bradycardia and remdesivir for COVID-19: a new safety concernOxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine-induced cerebral venous thrombosis and thrombocytopaenia: a missed opportunity for a rapid return of experienceAtypical thrombosis associated with VaxZevria® (AstraZeneca) vaccine: data from the French network of regional pharmacovigilance centresTeaching pharmacovigilance to French medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic: interest of distance learning clinical reasoning sessionsIf you enjoyed this podcast, check out these related episodes from the Drug Safety Matters archive:Reforming pharmacovigilance educationLessons in pandemic pharmacovigilanceIntuition in pharmacovigilanceGot a story to share?We’re always looking for new topics and interesting voices. If you have an idea or any other feedback for the show, get in touch!About UMCUppsala Monitoring Centre promotes safer use of medicines and vaccines for everyone everywhere. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, and Bluesky.