A black triangle appearing after the trade name of a British medicine (or vaccine) indicates that the medication is new to the market, or that an existing medicine (or vaccine) is being used for a new reason or by a new route of administration. Pharmacology (from Greek grc φάρμακον pharmakon, "drug" and grc -λογία -logia) is the study of how Drugs A vaccine is a biological preparation which is used to establish or improve immunity to a particular disease
Examples of how it might appear:
- NewDrugTradeName▼
- NewDrugTradeName▼
The black triangle also highlights the need for surveillance of any Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) that might arise from the use of a new medication. In Medicine, an adverse effect is a harmful and undesired effect resulting from a medication or other intervention such as Chemotherapy or Surgery. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) encourage anyone to voluntarily report ADRs (however minor) via the Yellow Card Scheme to gather more information and gain more understanding of a new medication. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA is the UK government agency which is responsible for ensuring that Medicines and Medical devices This article is about Human Medicines For Veterinary Medicines see the Suspected Adverse Reaction Surveillance Scheme.
After a new medicine (or vaccine) has been brought to the market there is still a lot that can be learnt about the drug from its widespread use. Similarly, if an existing drug us being used in a situation where it was not used before or if it is being given by a different route of administration a lot can still be learnt about its new or modified use.
The black triangle label generally stays with the new drug (or new use of an existing drug) for at least 2 years, when it is reviewed, and after this time the black triangle label may or may not be discontinued.
References
Pages on the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) website (accessed 13 Nov 2006):
Further reading
See also
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA is the UK government agency which is responsible for ensuring that Medicines and Medical devices The British National Formulary (BNF contains a wide spectrum of information on prescribing and Pharmacology, among others indications Side effects and Pharmacovigilance (PV is the pharmacological Science relating to the detection assessment understanding and prevention of adverse effects, particularly EudraVigilance ( E uropean U nion D rug R egulating A uthorities Pharmaco' vigilance') is the European data processing network The Uppsala Monitoring Centre (the UMC located in Uppsala, Sweden, is the field name for the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for InternationalDapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic