Autopsy tissue examination: a novel method to estimate adverse reactions to pharmacological agents

Autopsy tissue examination was employed as a measure to remove subjective bias observation in the identification and numerical computation of adverse reactions to drugs. With the the use of this novel technique, the incidence of adverse reactions was 26%, of which 82% were produced by a specific causative agent. Adverse reactions occurred most frequently in autopsied tissues taken from patients who were male and in the 61 and over age group. Further the predominant tissue altered morphologically in autopsied specimens examined was liver. The most common causative agent associated with an adverse tissue reaction was identified as alcohol. In light of the difference between evaluation by physicians of drug adverse reactions and the technique of autopsy tissue examination, our findings provide a more accurate measure of adverse reactions to non-prescription pharmacological agents.