iGuard Inc

Type	Private
Founded	2007
Headquarters	Princeton, New Jersey, USA
Key people	Hugo Stephenson, CEO Elisa Cascade, Head Operations Bob Winslow, Head Medical Information
Products	Safety research and analysis
Website	http://www.iguard.org

The holding company for iguard.org is iGuard. The website's aim is to monitor the safety of prescription medicines, over-the-counter medicines and healthcare supplements in over 1,050,000 US patients.^[1] The company also rates the safety of different drugs using a standardized ratings scale,^[2] and has received critical support from patient advocacy groups concerned by the large number of patients affected by serious, preventable adverse drug reactions.^[3]

The company iGuard was founded in 2007 by Hugo Stephenson, MD. It is a subsidiary of Quintiles Transnational, a multinational contract research organization.^[4]

Contents 1 Ratings by iGuard 2 Criticism 3 References 4 See also 5 External links

[edit] Ratings by iGuard

The iGuard site uses a five color rating scale similar to that used by the United States Homeland Security Advisory System to communicate the risk of developing serious side effects. The risk ratings are based on the drug's approved label and research available in major journals. The site publishes general ratings for a wide range of drugs and supplements, and produces personalized ratings that take into account a patient's health profile and interactions between the patient's drugs.

iGuard Risk Ratings^[5]

• High Risk (Red): Requires careful consideration of risk versus benefit with your doctor.
  e.g. Adriamycin, Vincristine

• Elevated (Orange): Create a personal risk reduction plan with your doctor
  e.g. Prednisone, Warfarin, Insulin

• Guarded (Yellow): Reserved for new products, be on the lookout for safety events
  e.g. Januvia, Yaz

• General (Blue): Use under the normal care of your doctor
  e.g. Lipitor, Lopressor

• Low (Green): Suitable for widespread use
  e.g. Vitamin C, Caltrate

[edit] Criticism

Qualitative risk rating systems, such as that used by iGuard, have been criticized for potentially simplifying risk assessment requirements used to inform risk management decisions.^[6]

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Program
• COSTART - Coding Symbols for a Thesaurus of Adverse Reaction Terms
• Pharmacovigilance
• Yellow Card Scheme (UK)

[edit] External links

• iGuard
• An Innovative System for Communicating Drug Risks to Patients