Why and how? Addressing to the two most pertinent questions about pharmacovigilance in Ayurveda.

Pharmacovigilance is the outcome of a natural and implied willingness of a physician to ensure safety to his patient. This is a discipline in medicine which pragmatises the principle of first do no harm towards a wider and systematic application in clinical practice. It is however important to understand that despite of its huge potential in ensuring a safe practice of medicine through knowledge of avoidable causes of adversities, its path has never been easy. Applying principles of pharmacovigilance into the realm of traditional medicine particularly to Ayurveda is even more difficult for the issues of why and how of pharmacovigilance in light of historical practice and anecdotal evidences of safety in Ayurveda. Application of pharmacovigilance in Ayurveda thereby demands a careful and thoughtful observation of its needs and its methods of application in order to maximize its impacts to ensure the patient safety to every extent possible.

Int J Ayurveda Res. 2011 Jan;2(1):48-52. Rastogi S. Department of Kaya Chikitsa, State Ayurvedic College, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.