Pharmacovigilance guidelines for clinical application of Chinese patent medicines for external use.

There are many kinds and dosage forms of Chinese patent medicines for external use on the market, which are widely used in clinical departments. The common adverse reactions of Chinese patent medicines for external use are skin reactions, and those for the rare severe diseases include palpitation, chest tightness, dyspnea, and anaphylactic shock. At present, World Health Organization(WHO), International Council for Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use(ICH),the United States, the European Union, and Asia-Pacific countries(such as Japan and South Korea) have not issued any pharmacovigilance guideline of Chinese patent medicines for external use. China has not issued any pharmacovigilance guideline for these medicines, only releasing the standard Evaluation of skin adverse reactions caused by Chinese patent medicines for external use(T/CACM 005-2017). To standardize the safe and reasonable use of Chinese patent medicines for external use, Pharmacovigilance guidelines for clinical application of Chinese patent medicines for external use was developed with the joint efforts of experts in diverse disciplines. The guideline provides guidance on the monitoring and reporting of adverse reactions/events, identification and assessment of risk signals, and risk control measures in the clinical application of Chinese patent medicines for external use to guide the rational use of these medicines in clinical practice. At the same time, the possible risks and risk control measures in clinical application of Chinese patent medicines for external use are listed for clinical reference. In addition, the guideline provides guidance for risk minimization plans and the standardization of activities related to pharmacovigilance of Chinese patent medicines for external use in China.