Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 9, 2026

Investigating Drivers of Antireward in Addiction Behavior with Anatomically Specific Single-Cell Gene Expression Methods
Published on: August 4, 2022
Pharmacovigilance in the field of addiction: challenges and emerging solutions
Maryse Lapeyre-Mestre1,2, Joëlle Micallef3,4, Romain Hacquet1,5
1CEIP-Addictovigilance, Service de Pharmacologie Médicale et Clinique, CHU de Toulouse, Toulouse, France.
Introduction:
Monitoring the safety of drugs regarding their potential for misuse falls within the scope of international conventions on narcotic and psychotropic drugs. In the U.S. a surveillance approach based on multiple sources has been implemented for decades and identified the opioid epidemic in the early 2000s. In Europe, this monitoring is carried out by the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) for substance abuse and by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) through pharmacovigilance activities for substances for therapeutic use.
Areas Covered:
Due to the hidden nature of prescription drug misuse, spontaneous pharmacovigilance reporting is rarely sufficient to quantify this complex phenomenon. This narrative review presents examples of a multisource approach based on a PubMed literature search using the terms 'pharmacovigilance' and 'addiction,' 'drug abuse,' or 'drug misuse.' These examples mainly concern the U.S. and the addictovigilance monitoring system in France.
Expert Opinion:
Because of the constant changes in the drug misuse phenomenon and the effectiveness of addictovigilance in addressing it, other countries should strongly consider adapting this approach (with the necessary adaptations) into their national monitoring systems and adopting the addictovigilance terminology.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Pharmacovigilance
This process, termed pharmacovigilance, aims to detect, evaluate, and minimize harmful effects related to medication use. The data collection for pharmacovigilance depends on spontaneous reporting systems, where healthcare professionals or patients voluntarily report suspected ADRs.
In some cases, there...
Drug Abuse and Addiction: Pharmacological Phenomena
Drug Control Governance: Regulatory Bodies and Their Impact
Drug Dependence
Drug Therapy
Antianxiety Medications
Drug Discovery: Overview

