Meanings
- uncountablemedicineThe detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects of medicines.First known use 1970s
Since it [the European Medicines Agency] began operating in 1995, the agency has become a central actor regarding various aspects of pharmaceuticals regulation and has a crucial role in providing the infrastructure for EU [European Union] pharmacovigilance.
2017, Michael Kaeding, Julia Schmälter, Christoph Klika, “The EU Pharmacovigilance System”, in Pharmacovigilance in the European Union: Practical Implementation across Member States, Wiesbaden, Germany: Springer Nature, →DOI, →ISBN, page 222 more examples
In our experience, a request concerning suspected drug toxicity (or an adverse effect) needs to be dealt with in greater detail than other chemical agents, to obtain information on the animals affected (species, breed, age, physiological and pathological status) and on the suspect product (conformity, dose administered, storage conditions, etc.). These led us to introduce a specific request form for drugs, called a ‘pharmacovigilance form’, used since October 1988.
1987, Veterinary Drug Registration Newsletter, Paris: Office International des Epizooties, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 23But it appears repurposing is possible in another crucial phase of drug development—post-marketing surveillance or pharmacovigilance, which essentially identifies adverse side effects of drugs. Experts say “repurposed” pharmacovigilance would look for and understand beneficial side effects of drugs that may surface during their development or use.
2009 August 19, Seema Singh, “NovaLead shows drug repositioning works”, in LiveMint, archived from the original on 06 Feb 2016
Origin
Translations
Arabic صيدلة احتراسية, اليَقَظةُ الدَّوائِيَّة
- صيدلة احتراسيةdetection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects of medicines
- اليَقَظةُ الدَّوائِيَّة (al-yaqaẓatu d-dawāʔiyya)detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects of medicines
Catalan farmacovigilància
- farmacovigilànciadetection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects of medicines
Dutch medicatiebewaking
- medicatiebewakingdetection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects of medicines
French pharmacovigilance
- pharmacovigilancedetection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects of medicines
German Pharmakovigilanz
- Pharmakovigilanzdetection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects of medicines
Italian farmacovigilanza
- farmacovigilanzadetection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects of medicines
Latvian farmakovigilance
- farmakovigilancedetection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects of medicines
Persian مراقبتهای دارویی
- مراقبتهای داروییdetection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects of medicines
Portuguese farmacovigilância
- farmacovigilânciadetection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects of medicines
Spanish farmacovigilancia
- farmacovigilanciadetection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects of medicines
Swedish farmakovigilans
- farmakovigilansdetection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects of medicines
Tamil மருந்தாக்கியல் கண்காணிப்பு
- மருந்தாக்கியல் கண்காணிப்பு (maruntākkiyal kaṇkāṇippu)detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects of medicines
Vietnamese cảnh giác dược
- cảnh giác dượcdetection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects of medicines
Cite this entry
pharmacovigilance. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pharmacovigilance
“pharmacovigilance.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pharmacovigilance. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pharmacovigilance,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pharmacovigilance.
Source: pharmacovigilance on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.