The Editorial Executive Committee welcomes letters, which should be less than 250 words. Before a decision to publish is made, letters which refer to a published article may be sent to the author for a response. Any letter may be sent to an expert for comment. When letters are published, they are usually accompanied in the same issue by their responses or comments. The Committee screens out discourteous, inaccurate or libellous statements. The letters are sub-edited before publication. Authors are required to declare any conflicts of interest. The Committee's decision on publication is final.
Letter to the editor
Editor, – I refer to the Australian Adverse Drug Reactions Bulletin Vol. 15 No. 2 May 1996. In that issue, Table 1 'Reports of adverse hepatic reactions' is very sobering indeed. The ranitidine, diclofenac and phenytoin figures are particularly worrying. Could you publish the DDDs for these as well? Their % fatality for the number of reactions reported is higher than the top two (flucloxacillin and amoxycillin/potassium clavulanate).
John J. Byrne General Practitioner Ramsgate, N.S.W.
Editor's comment
The graphs below are produced with the assistance of both the Drug Utilization Sub-Committee of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee and the Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee.