Madison, WI (1888PressRelease)
July 30, 2008 - People on medication are to benefit from a new website where they can find out if the drugs they are taking are safe to use initially, and if they are safe to mix with other medicine.
The website, eHealthMe.com, has just been released from beta development and provides healthcare consumers and professionals with unique services where they can check and compare drug interactions and side effects.
eHealthMe is the first website to offer up-to-date and practical post marketing drug information. Users simply enter the drugs they take into the site, which then uses drug risk algorithms to analyze millions of drug reports and quickly presents the visitor with their results.
The results are shown in two dimensions, firstly the potential interacting drugs, and secondly the common drug interaction and side effects.
Johnson Chen, co-owner of the website, said: “Monitoring drugs after they are approved for the market is crucial, and until now there has been no effective resource for the pubic to find out updated post marketing drug information.”
Drugs that work for a few hundred people in clinical trials may not work for millions in the market, and some drug adverse side effects can only be seen after a long period rather than in short clinical trials.
Mr Chen added: “For example, more than half of people aged 50 or over are taking more than three medications. Seniors are often excluded from clinical trials and hence they are particularly vulnerable to drug interactions. That is why we have decided to create a resource so that patients and healthcare professionals can monitor their drugs more effectively.”
The site currently analyzes more than 2 million reports from the FDA and other sources, from 1977 to present, and its basic drug checking service is free and anonymous. Users can also sign up for a small fee to get access to enhanced functions.
The site can be accessed at www.eHealthMe.com.
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