CredibleMeds is an online database launched in 2009 of information regarding serious drug-drug interactions associated with

QT prolongation Long QT syndrome (LQTS) is a condition affecting repolarization (relaxing) of the heart after a heartbeat, giving rise to an abnormally lengthy QT interval. It results in an increased risk of an irregular heartbeat which can result in fainting, ...

or the potentially lethal

arrhythmia Arrhythmias, also known as cardiac arrhythmias, heart arrhythmias, or dysrhythmias, are irregularities in the heartbeat, including when it is too fast or too slow. A resting heart rate that is too fast – above 100 beats per minute in adults ...

, torsades de pointes (TdP). It also assists with measurement of the quality of healthcare delivery for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and aids in the management of patients with inherited

channelopathies Channelopathies are a group of diseases caused by the dysfunction of ion channel subunits or their interacting proteins. These diseases can be inherited or acquired by other disorders, drugs, or toxins. Mutations in genes encoding ion channels, wh ...

. The overall goal of CredibleMeds is to support efforts to improve the safe use of medicines.

History

The Arizona Center for Education and Research on Therapeutics (AZCERT) maintains the CredibleMeds database. Founded in 2000 at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. ...

as part of a network of 14 federally-funded CERTs, AZCERT became a separate

non-profit corporation A nonprofit corporation is any legal entity which has been incorporated under the law of its jurisdiction for purposes other than making profits for its owners or shareholders. Depending on the laws of the jurisdiction, a nonprofit corporation may ...

in 2012 funded by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA),

research grants A grant is a fund given by an end entity grant – often a public body, charitable foundation, or a specialised grant-making institution – to an individual or another entity (usually, a non-profit organisation, sometimes a business or a local ...

, and charitable contributions. AZCERT focuses on

drugs A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalat ...

and

drug–drug interaction Drug interactions occur when a drug's mechanism of action is disturbed by the concomitant administration of substances such as foods, beverages, or other drugs. The cause is often the inhibition of the specific receptors available to the dru ...

s, especially those that cause

and Torsades de Pointes (TdP)

, and provides its research and its lists of drugs free of charge to the public, healthcare providers, and researchers for personal, professional, and

non-commercial A non-commercial (also spelled noncommercial) activity is an activity that does not, in some sense, involve commerce, at least relative to similar activities that do have a commercial objective or emphasis. For example, advertising-free community ...

purposes. To maintain the independence of its work, AZCERT does not receive funding from companies that have a commercial interest in medications.

Adverse drug event analysis

AZCERT developed the Adverse Drug Event Causality Analysis (ADECA) to evaluate drugs for their risk of causing QT prolongation and TdP. As part of its ADECA reviews, AZCERT includes drugs marketed outside the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, especially in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

, Japan, and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

. In addition to their use to inform healthcare decision making, CredibleMeds’ lists of drugs have been used in research published in more than 50 scientific articles.Medsafe
Drug-induced QT prolongation and torsades de pointes - the facts
Prescriber Update 2010;31(4): 27-29. https://www.medsafe.govt.nz/profs/PUArticles/PDF/Prescriber%20Update%20Dec%202010.pdf (accessed 18 June 2019).

References

{{reflist

External links

ARIZONA CERT (Center for Education and Research on Therapeutics)

Centers for Education & Research on Therapeutics (CERTs)

Credible Meds

Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP)

Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA)

Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndromes Foundation (SADS)

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP)
Online databases American medical websites Internet properties established in 2009