Ralph Edwards: RARE EVENTS: The Inside Story of a Worldwide Quest for Safer Medicines

497 Pages·2023·19.716 MB·English

by  Ian Hembrow

Springer Biographies
Ralph Edwards:
RARE EVENTS
The Inside Story of a Worldwide
Quest for Safer Medicines
IAN HEMBROW
Springer Biographies
ThebookspublishedintheSpringerBiographiestellofthelifeandworkofscholars,
innovators,andpioneersinallfieldsoflearningandthroughouttheages.Prominent
scientists and philosophers will feature, but so too will lesser known personalities
whose significant contributions deserve greater recognition and whose remarkable
lifestorieswillstirandmotivatereaders.Authoredbyhistoriansandotheracademic
writers,thevolumesdescribeandanalysethemainachievementsoftheirsubjectsin
manner accessible to nonspecialists, interweaving these with salientaspects of the
protagonists’personallives.Autobiographies andmemoirsalsofallintothescope
oftheseries.
Ian Hembrow
Ralph Edwards:
RARE EVENTS
The Inside Story of a Worldwide Quest for
Safer Medicines
IanHembrow
OxfordCentreforLifeWriting
UniversityofOxford
Oxford,UnitedKingdom
ISSN 2365-0613 ISSN 2365-0621 (electronic)
SpringerBiographies
ISBN 978-3-031-14980-1 ISBN 978-3-031-14981-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14981-8
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Coverphoto:RalphEdwards
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Disclaimer:Thecontentsofthisbookdonotrepresentorreflectthe
viewsandcurrentorfutureworkoftheUppsalaMonitoringCentre,
WorldHealthOrganization oranyothergroup.
RalphEdwardsatErice,Sicilyin2019.PhotoUMC
RalphEdwards,Gothenburg,January2021.PhotoMarieLindquist
AboutProfessorRalphEdwards
RalphEdwardsisaworld-leading figureinthescienceof
pharmacovigilance(thesafetyofmedicines).Bornandeducatedin
England,hequalifiedinmedicinein1966andembarkedona
medicalcareerthattookhimfromtheUKtoZimbabwe,New
ZealandandthentoSwedenasthefirstfull-time directorofthe
UppsalaMonitoring Centre(UMC).
Hisvisionforaworldwhereallpatientsandhealthprofessionals
makewisetherapeuticdecisionshelpedtobringmedicinessafety
fromobscuritytoprominenceinclinicalpracticeandpublichealth.
Theglobalcoronavirus pandemicthrustthiscomplexandfascinating
disciplineintopublicattentionandcontroversy.
IanHembrow,author.PhotoIanHembrow
AbouttheAuthor
IanHembrowisafreelancewriterandavisitingscholaratthe
OxfordCentreforLifeWriting,WolfsonCollege,Universityof
Oxford,UK.HewrotethebookMakingMedicinesSafer tomark
UMC’sfortieth anniversaryin2018.
RelieflogoattheentrancetotheUppsalaMonitoringCentre,Sweden.PhotoIanHembrow
Forfourgreatteachers,mentorsandsources
ofinspiration: SydneyOwen,RevdHubert
Morton,J.P.Morgan-JonesandSirRobert
Kilpatrick.
Foreword
ProfessorLembitRägo.PhotoLembitRägo
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, I was the professor of clinical pharmacology at
TartuUniversityinEstonia.IwasalsooneofthetwofoundersoftheEstoniandrug
regulatoryauthority,whichwascreatedafewmonthsbeforemycountry’sindepen-
dencewasrestoredinAugust1991.Amongmanyotheractivities,weestablisheda
‘yellowcard’reportingsystemforadversereactiontodrugs,joinedtheWorldHealth
Organization(WHO)ProgrammeforInternationalDrugMonitoringandstartedto
sendcasereportstotheUppsalaMonitoringCentre(UMC).
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