Editorial

Imperfect Pharmacovigilance

Authors: Aly Lakhani, MBBS, FRCPC

Abstract

In their accompanying article, Vrettos et al1 report a case of severe thrombocytopenia in a 65-year-old woman that was associated with the use of rosuvastatin for treatment of dyslipidemia. The reported adverse event did not result in a serious adverse clinical outcome and resolved with the discontinuation of the culprit medication. Despite the patient's fortunate outcome, we should recall that she was being treated pharmacologically for dyslipidemia, in the context of which only her age appears to be a traditional cardiovascular risk factor. This patient's 10-year risk of cardiovascular event, although not precisely known based on the information provided, was not likely to have been greater than the 20% benchmark necessitating intensive therapy.2

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