MediGuard checks the safety of your medicines, looking out for potential interactions between your medicines, conditions, and other risk factors such as age and gender.
In addition, we also provide you with a drug safety rating for each medicine you are taking which will help you better understand the relative risk of your treatments. Drug safety ratings are created based on the likelihood and severity of serious side effect.
The MediGuard Risk Ratings that communicate the risk of developing serious side effects are listed below in order from lowest to highest risk.
NOTE: These ratings communicate risk for developing serious side effects. They DO NOT take into account potential benefits of treatment or the risk of NOT being treated.
Low Risk Suitable for Widespread Use These drugs have been widely used for a long period of time–which means that their safety profile is well known–and they are associated with a low risk of serious side effects. |
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General Risk Use under Normal Care of a Doctor These drugs have been widely used for a long period of time–which means that their safety profile is well known–and they are associated with a low risk of serious side effects when used according to their directions under the ongoing supervision of a doctor. |
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Guarded Be on the Lookout for Safety Events Most new drugs fall into this category. They have been shown to have a low risk of serious side effects under tightly controlled conditions of a clinical trial, but have not been used for long enough or widely enough to really understand their risks. |
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Elevated Risk Create a personal risk reduction plan with your doctor. These are drugs that require a special discussion between you and your doctor about ways that together, you can minimize your drug risk. Such a plan could simply involve education about signs and symptoms to look out for, or could involve regular check-ups and monitoring. |
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High Risk Requires careful consideration of risk versus benefit. These are drugs that are associated with a high risk with serious side effects, and require a special discussion between you and your doctor to discuss risk versus benefit. |
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On Hold–Risk Rating under review |