A Beginner's Guide to Clinical Safety Data Management

What is clinical safety data management?avoided in future.
It is the process of capturing, management andProcess involved drug safety data management:
reporting of safety data. It involves dataData collection and management, financial
collection, qualitative check on collected data andmanagement, site management, trial
finally, the creation of a database that is themanagement, pharmacovigilance, clinical program
organized and validated information derived frommanagement and regulatory submission are the
the data collected. A series of procedures and aseveral aspects involved in the data management.
band of industry experts are needed to carry outThe order may change. But they are vital
the necessary procedures.ingredients that go into managing a clinical data.
History:The Process:
Clinical safety is very important to ensure theThis is how a typical data management in the
safety of drugs pre-marketing andclinical sector works:
post-marketing. It should be standardized and- A subject is chosen and is thoroughly
elaborate enough to promise complete safety.investigated by the investigator.
The elaborative nature of drug safety data- A sample of the investigation is sent to the
management has been evolving to improve. Itlaboratory for clinical report and also to the
began as a mere data entry process, anmonitor ho monitors the investigation report of
information hub which needed organization andthe subject.
cleaning. The clinical data reports we have today is- The lab results are sent to the data manager,
a clean data in a useable format fit to be usedwho along with his team manages the laboratory
and understood with ease. It is a very visible andresults obtained.
strong organization now.- A statistician is usually involved to statistically
Importance of Clinical safety data management:analyze the data.
It is done to ensure quality of data being- This data is then passed on to a clinician who
transferred from subjects to the databaseconverts the available information into clinical data.
system. The data thus gathered and produced is- The resultant data is sent to a regulatory
accurate, valid clinical data. It aids the overall drugauthority through NDA who finally checks for
development organization by monitoring andquality and approved the data.
regulating clinical standards. It also ensures thatTerminology:
relationships with other organizations continue toAdverse Event (or Adverse Experience) AE
evolve.Any untoward medical occurrence in a patient or
When and why should it be done?clinical investigation subjectadministered a
It is done in the event of adverse experiencespharmaceutical product and which does not
with drugs, adverse drug reactions, unexpectednecessarily have to have acausal relationship with
adverse drug reactions and serious adverse drugthis treatment.
reactions. Under such circumstances, affectedAdverse Drug Reaction (ADR)
people are taken as subjects, clinical trials areAll noxious and unintended responses to a
made. The findings are recorded, investigated andmedicinal product related to any doseshould be
documented so that any such instances areconsidered adverse drug reactions.