The bullettin is in italian and is available since the first issue in May 1994. You can download each issue as a PDF (Acrobat Reader) file. If you wish to receive information on an article  please contact the FOCUS secretariat.

Next issue - December 2010

Previous issues:

• Issue60 - June 2010
  Spontaneous reporting in Italy in 2009 – An hospital project to reduce the prescribing errors – Energy drinks – Rosiglitazone: yes or no? – Phytovigilance: how to detect the interactions between herbs and cardiovascular drugs – Signals from the world: sartans and nightmares – Case – report: a male child with ADHD

• Issue 59 - March 2010
  H1N1 pandemic: good news from the pharmacovigilance – Toxicity of endovenous contrast media for imaging techniques – Glitazones and hepatotoxicity – Who needs the SPC? – The story of sibutramine – Signals from the world: aliskiren and cardiac arrhythmias

• Issue 58 - December 2009
  Biologic drugs and pharmacovigilance (fare il link alla versione originale) – Update on glitazones – Hormone Replacement Therapy and lung cancer – Drugs and pregnancy: antiviral drugs and pandemic (H1N1) – Signals from the world: itraconazole and pancreatitis; orlistat and hepatotoxicity; zinc administration and anosmia – The Netherland experience on patients and pharmacovigilance – Case- report: PPI and psychiatric adverse drug reactions – Questionnaire to evaluate the satisfaction of our readers

• Issue 57 - September 2009
  Antipsychotic and schizophrenia: which drug can I choose? – The new directive on pharmacovigilance – Use of long active beta-2 agonists in children – ASA in the primary prevention – Tamsulosin and oftalmic adverse drug reactions – Phytovigilance: smart drugs – Signals from the world: strontium ranelate and alopecia - A caffeine intoxication caused by a chewing-gum – Inappropriate use of ceftriaxone – A case of Uncombable Hair Syndrome – Clopidogrel and PPI (EMEA)

• Issue 56 - June 2009
  Spontaneous reporting in Italy in 2008: many positive, few negative aspects - Safety and efficacy: comparison of antidepressants by Andrea Cipriani e Corrado Barbui - From the literature: Hypersensitivity to oxaliplatin: Too much insulin in critically ill patients - Drugs and pregnancy: antiasthmatic drugs in pregnancy - Signals from the world: Rituximab and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy - Clopidogrel and proton pump inhibitors: dangerous association? - Genetic determinants of responce to clopidogrel - Case report: Martino heard God's voice (hallucinations by chlarithromycin) by Lodovica Mazzucato, GP, ULSS 16, Padova

Issue 55 - March 2009
Editorial: Information or promotion? - Monitoring the Safety of Medicines Used Off-label by Gerald J Dal Pan US Food and Drug Administration (Click here to download the original and full version of this article in english) - Safety of smoking cessation drugs by C. Chiamulera - From the literature: Scientific literature can contain publication bias - Vitamins fail to prevent cancer - Phytovigilance: Myopathies associated with red yeast rice and liquorice - Ginkgo biloba: the results of GEM’s study - Signals: Esophageal cancer with oral bisphosphonate use - A possible association between trimetazidine and extrapyramidal disorders - Why FOCUS is a member of ISDB? - Case report: What to do with a severe neutropenia by Francesco Del Zotti, General Practitioner

• Issue 54 - December 2008
  From signal to general practice by Kees van Grootheest  (Click here to download the original and full version of this article in english) - Paracetamol and asthma: a questionable association - From the literature: Users of Ayurvedic medicine may be at risk for heavy metal toxicity - Vitamin B6 and peripheral neuropathy  - Drugs and pregnancy: antiepileptics - Signals from the world: Anticolinergics and cardiovascular risk - Exenatide and acute pancreatitis - Propolis is not always safe - Letter to the editor: is it really compulsory to give allopurinol to a patient taking diuretics?

  Issue 53 - September 2008
  Editorial: Big changes in FOCUS - Medication errors by Jeffrey K. Aronson  (Click here to download the original and full version of this article in english)  - ACE-inhibitors and sartans are equivalent - PPIs and interstitial nephritis  - Adverse drug reactions in elderly people - Phytovigilance: let’s have a look to Gingko Biloba - Azathioprine and photosensibility - Domperidone and convulsions - Nimesulide in a natural health product  - Case –report: Barbara holds out!   - AIFA has a new general director.

• Issue 52 - February - May 2008
  Spontaneous reporting in 2007 in Veneto e in the GIF area. - Drug interactions in general medical practice: true or false problem? -  Direct to Consumer advertising: it it coming also in Europe? - New legislative proposals for pharmacovigilance in Europe. A strategy to improve public health of to advantage drug industry?

• Issue 51 - November 2007
  Nimesulide wins "by points"... and AIFA limits its dispensing - Domperidone and metoclopramide: inappropriate antiemetic use in children - Children and nasal decongestants - Valerian and hallucinations - Rosiglitazone and cardiovascular reactions: news - Letter to Focus on isotretinoin  - Case Report: disosmia by sirolimus/paclitaxel released by endovascular medical stent.

• Issue 50 - August 2007
  Pharmacogenetics of adverse drug reactions by  Ana Alfirevic and Munir Pirmohamed (Click here to download the original and full version of this article in english) -Rosiglitazone and cardiovascular reactions: recent news - Stop to piroxicam  - Case report: Much too high a price to treat acne

• Issue 49 - May 2007
  The "silent reform" of spontaneous reporting system in Italy Nimesulide: danger in sight! Antiepileptic drugs in pregnancy: what news? Domperidone and cardiotoxicity Case Report: Long live to the old-sitter.

• Issue 48 - February 2007
  Safety profile of statins  - Overdfose reports by buflomedil in Italy - ISDB Press release: What is more dangerous: flu or Tamiflu (oseltamivir))?  -  Nasal decongestant in pediatry: AIFA recommendations  - Nasal desmopressin i nasal nocturnal enuresis: comment  from AIFA

• Issue 47 - November 2006
  Fluoxetine in children: is it really necessary?  - An opinion on the use of fluoxetine in children  - SSRIs in pregnancy  - Signal from the world: Restriction of the use of endonasal desmopressin in France. Buflomedil: discussion on adverse reactions in France and on efficacy in Italy  - Case report: Serious cutaneous reaction by oral terbinafine

• Issue 46 - August 2006
  Metamizole/dipyrone: a long story between lights and shadows  - Call them by name: the prescription without trade names  - ACE-inhibitors: new data on their use in pregnancy  - Withdrawals from italian market: Cimicifuga racemosa and Revitorgan Conisan A e B  - Case report: Acute serious rhabdomyolysis due to an interaction simvastatin-cyclosporine

• Issue 45 - May 2006
  Is spontaneous reporting in Italy still useful? Analysis of spontaneous reports in 2005 in GIF regions The withdrawal of Morupar: from GIF to AIFA The new list of intensive monitoring Signals from the world: Duloxetine hepatotocixity - Ezetimibe/simvastatin and rhabdomyolysis - Telitromicin and serious hepatic reactions

• Issue 44 - February 2006
  NSAIDs: a neverending debate?  - NSAIDs and cardiovascular risk by Carlo Patrono, University "La Sapienza", Rome, Italy  - Benzodiazepines in pregnancy  - Signals from the world: Tamsulosin and Floppy Iris Syndrome - Statins and loss of memory  - Herbals at risk available in internet

• Issue 43 - November 2005
  Editorial - The salmeterol affair - Paroxetine and cardiac malformations  - Signals from the world: Withdrawal of antibiotics for topic administration; Veralipride: suspension due to neurological ADRs; ACE-inhibitors and hyperkaliemia; Dopaminergic drugs and gambling  - Case report: Possible interaction between exemestane and warfarin  - Case report: The singular case of somali tobacco

• Issue 42 - August 2005
  Drugs potentially inappropriate and adverse drug reactions in elderly - Pharmacovigilance as a "gym" for case report retrieval  - Tacrolimus and pimecrolimus: first or second choice?  - Depression and antidepressants in pregnancy

• Issue 41 - May 2005
  Spontaneous reporting in Italy in 2004: data fron the Interregional Group of Pharmacovigilance (GIF) - Spontaneous reporting: the role of the patients - Berlin Declaration on pharmacovigilance - Signals from the world: antidepressants in children: EMEA recommendations - Viagra and blindness - Statins in pregnancy 

• Issue 40 - February 2005 QT prolonged syndrome and drugs - Antiepileptic drugs in pregnancy -  Sartans and myocardial infarction  - Interactions between aspirin and ibuprofen  - Signals from the world: Cimicifuga racemosa: not only benefits - Lamictal (lamotrigine) and concomitant use of oral contraceptives - SSRI and haemorragias

• Issue 39 - November 2004 Rofecoxib: an expected withdrawal - Drugs and pregnancy: antihistaminic drugs - SSRI and suicide in pediatric patients - Case Report: An "heavy" integrator - News from the Ministry of Health

• Issue 38 - August 2004 Drugs and pregnancy: let's talk again. Antimicrobials.  - Rosuvastatin: pharmacological or pharmacoeconomical war?  - Muscolar toxicity or peripheral polineuropathy by statins?  - Can finasteride cause depression? 

• Issue 37 - February-May 2004 Quantity or Quality? Spontaneous reporting in 2003 in the Interregional Group of Pharmacovigilance (See also the 2003 Report of GIF) - The new italian spontaneous reporting form - Olanzapine, risperidone and cerebrovascular events - Attached: the new italian spontaneous reporting form and  simple filling instructions

• Issue 36 - November 2003 Adverse drug reactions in children - Which is the best NSAID in children? - Inhaled corticosteroids and growth in asthmatic children - Signals from the world: Celecoxib and lupus erythematosus - Possible interaction between warfarin and blueberry juice

• Issue 35 - August 2003 Drug interactions in clinical practice by Alison Thomas and Philip Routledge (Click here to read the original article in english as PDF file) Pharmacovigilance: the new italian law Signals from the world: Valdecoxib-parecoxib e sulphonamides: a risk relationship - Use of telitromicin in patients with Miastenia Gravis Cardioprotective effect by aspirin and ibuprofen

• Issue 34 - May 2003 Drug interactions in clinical practice by Alison Thomas and Philip Routledge (Click here to read the original article in english as PDF file) Pharmacovigilance: the new italian law Signals from the world: Valdecoxib-parecoxib e sulphonamides: a risk relationship - Use of telitromicin in patients with Miastenia Gravis Cardioprotective effect by aspirin and ibuprofen

• Issue 33 - February 2003 Editorial: Thank you for your reports- Together is better! Spontaneous reporting in Veneto, Lombardia, Emilia Romagna and Province of Trento in 2002  - Signals from the world: New pill, old problems -  Paracetamol and fasting: a dangerous association - Drug interactions with grapefruit juice - Ergotamine and caffeine suppositories: periferic ischaemia with CYP3A4 inhibitors - Omeprazole, interaction with clozapine - Linezolid e peripheral neuropathy

• Issue 32 - November 2002 Conflict of interest in medicine and medical journals by Richard Smith, Editor, BMJ (Click here if you want to read the article by Richard Smith in english (as PDF file) Signals from the world: Tamoxifen; Erythromycin and hypertrophic pyloric stenosis  - The pill of discordance  - Bioflavonoids and pregnancy

• Issue 31 - August 2002 Waiting for Cronos project, latest news on drugs for Alzheimer - Drugs and cognitive disorders in the elderly - Injectable antibiotics and anaphylactic shock - Your money or your life (Wall Street rule)

• Issue 30 - May 2002 There’s something new under the sun? Glitazones - "Mind"... to telithromycin – Spontaneous reporting and ... "induced" underreporting - Nimesulide and hepatotoxicity – Surveillance of adverse reactions due to officinal herbal products – Signals from the world: More fractures in elderly with zolpidem; Ibuprofen, aspirin and platelets; Statins and tendon disorders; News from the italian Ministry of Health: ketorolac and cefotetan; Hypericum perforatum and population increase... - Case report: Acute hepatitis with phytotherapy

• Issue 29 - February 2002 Spontaneous reporting in Veneto-TN, Lombardia and Emilia Romagna in 2001- Signals from the world: Serotonine reuptake inhibitors (SSRI): newborn and delivery effects; Convulsivants effects of bupropion; Clozapine and cardiovascular events; Kawa kawa: withdrawal for hepatotoxicity; Aristolochia: renal failure and urothelial carcinoma- A confirm: Ginkgo biloba works:.. sometimes too much!! - Case report: Rare case of allergic cutaneus reaction due to a sottocutaneus poli-lactic acid implant for beauty purpose

• Issue 28 - Novembre 2001 Editorial: after the storm - Coxib or not Coxib – Is it better a cold or an haemorrhagic stroke? - Signals from the world: Orlistat and thyroidal function – Topiramate, myopia and glaucoma; Atorvastatin and ischemic optic neuropathy; Infliximab and congestive heart failure; Latanoprost and angina; Atipical antipsychotics and diabetes - Case report: Rofecoxib and thrombocytopenia

• Issue 27 - August 2001 NSAID in pregnancy - Niflumic acid /morniflumate: an italian matter - Case report: hypoglicemia and ginseng- Case report: homeopatic-phytoterapic drug and coagulation - Case report: Haemolytic anaemia related to cefotetan use – Does all fluoroquinolones interact with warfarin?

• Issue 26 - May 2001 Editorial – Food and drugs - Case report: infliximab treatment and miliary TBC  

• Issue 25 - February 2001 Spontaneus reporting in Veneto-Trentino in 2000 - Signals from the world: zafirlukast (Accoleit®, Respix®, Zafirst®), bupropion (Zyban®) droperidol (Sintodian® and, with fentanyl, Leptofen®) - Case report: subarachnoid haemorrhage related to ginkgo biloba estract.

• Issue 24 - Novembre 2000 Clinical relevance of farmacogenetics - COX-2 inhibitors toxicity - Case report: cerebral TIA during rofecoxib poliarthrosis therapy

• Issue 23 - August 2000 Breast feeding and drugs - Association between selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage- Case report: Two cases of drug acute generalized esantematic pustolosis - Cisapride (Alimix®, Cipril®, Prepulsid®): geographical differences! - Doxiciclina (Doxina®, Gramval® Bassado®, Miraclin®, Unacil®) and oesophageal lesions

• Issue 22 - May 2000 Use of hypericum in depression: efficacy and tolerability evidences - Case report: hepatic cytolisis caused by ceftriaxone –Focus on olanzapine

• Issue 21 - February 2000 Spontaneous reporting and adverse drug reactions: state of the art and the data from Veneto-Trentino region - Hepatic damage with nefazodone use- Case-report: heparin induced priapism - multicentric investigation about ribavirin use- Guidelines on spontaneous reporting

• Issue 20 - Novembre 1999 Sartans tolerability: toxicity profile to define - Drugs interactions - Pimozide: sudden death

• Issue 19 - August 1999 Adverse reactions to herbal medicines – New antimalarial agent from Artemisia Annua - New antitumoral agents from traditional chinese medicine - First case-report of ventricular fibrillation with fexofenadine - Case report: atorvastatin and odonthoiatrics disturbance (Dr Giancarlo Ometto general practitioner)

• Issue 18 - May 1999 New antidepressants tolerability - Alopecia and finasteride - Case-Report: Antihistaminics distonic reaction  - 2nd generation antihistaminics

• Issue 17 - February 1999 Spontaneus reporting in Veneto-Trentino in 1998 – How Veneto Local Authorities do spontaneus reporting - Leukotriene receptors antagonist

• Issue 16 - Novembre 1998 Sildenafil (Viagra®, Patrex®) - Case-Report: Cisapride QT lengthening - Antinflu vaccination - Drugs and pregnancy: answers from editorial staff

• Issue 15 - August 1998 Drugs and pregnancy: the experience of a Genetic Advisory Bureau - Suspected interaction between itraconazole and oral contraceptives

• Issue 14 - Mayr 1998 Breast cancer and menopausal hormonal therapy - Focus on paracetamol - Case-Report:  Diplopia caused by tramadol? Description of two cases

• Issue 13 - February 1998 The Italian decree 44/97 on pharmacovigilance: how is the impact in spontaneous reporting in Veneto-Trentino? - Erythema nodosum caused by a suspected intolerance to cefixime

• Issue 12 - Novembre 1997 Anorexiants: last episode?  - Nimesulide and COX-2 selectivity  - Case-Report: Serious hepatic reactions by methotrexate - The new italian adverse drug reaction spontaneous reporting form 

• Issue 11 - August 1997 History of a drug: terfenadine - Case-report: a fall in the church - Case-report: Dupuytren syndrome and fenobarbital: two cases - Case-report: ambroxol intolerance - Case-report: Lyell syndrome caused by sulfasalazine

• Issue 10 - May 1997 It is FOCUS third birthday and it become member of ISDB - Spontaneous reporting in Veneto-Trentino in 1996  - The new italian law on pharmacovigilance - Preliminary results of the survey on tramadol

• Issue 9 - January 1997 Spontaneous reporting in Veneto, Trentino, Lombardia and Sicilia regions: similarities and differences - Drugs and serious cutaneous reactions: part two - Tramadol: a toxicity  profile to be reviewed - Case-report: Convulsive crisis  by  tramadol

• Issue 8 - October 1996 Drugs and serious cutaneous reactions: part one - Case report: Incoercible hiccup by trazodone and fluvoxamine - Case-report: Pulmonary oedema by cortisone and ritodrine

• Issue 7 - June 1996 Spontaneous reporting in Veneto-Trentino in 1995  - Melatonin: is the elisir become stealthy? - Case-report: impotence by felodipine

• Issue 6 - February 1996 New or old antidepressants? - Venous thromboembolism and oral contraceptives: any differences among drugs? - Workshop in Erice on pharmacovigilance in Italy  - Anorexants and risk of pulmonary hypertension: IPPHS study

• Issue 5 - October 1995 Anorexants and risk of pulmonary hypertension - Cefaclor and children: arthritis and arthralgia - Tendon rupture and fluoroquinolones - Case-report: hepatitis by amineptine, 4 cases reported in Vicenza - Frequency and seriousness of adverse drug reactions

• Issue 4 - June 1995 Spontaneus reporting in Veneto-Trentino in 1994 - NSAIDs (gastrointestinal toxicity, data from Veneto region, recommendation for prescription) - Case-report: taste loss caused by terbinafine

• Issue 3 - January 1995 Fluoroquinolones (clinical use, tolerability, contraindications, case report, temafloxacin, data from veneto Region) - Calcipotriol

• Issue 2 - September 1994 Adverse reactions from vaccines - Adverse reactions from antibiotics - Brodimoprim

• Issue 1 - May 1994 Why FOCUS - Spontaneous reporting in Veneto region since 1988 - Ketorolac ?