[Pharmacoepidemiology: an another kind of drug surveillance]

Pharmacoepidemiology is a branch of medical pharmacology defined as "the study of use and beneficial and adverse drug effects in order to promote their proper use and allow to improve public health." This definition underlines the links between pharmacoepidemiology and public health and helps to show how pharmacoepidemiology extends the conclusion of pharmacovigilance, which is only the study of adverse drug reactions. Using several current examples, the author shows how pharmacoepidemiology allows drug risk assessment but also to investigate drug benefits during real drug use.