Communicating Drug Safety

Promoting safety of medications is imperative for optimal use, and the communication of the risk is entrusted to communicators. The communication of the risk of medicine requires peculiar expertise that is different from communications about its benefit. The identification of a risk related to a medicinal product is a dynamic process that involves the acquisition of information that progressively transforms into knowledge. In the initial stages of this process, the risk is often only potential but this uncertainty still requires caution. Uncertain risks are frequently matter of communication, and the magnitude of this uncertainty often drives the risk communication itself as the main subject. A message has to be tailored to the attitude and concerns of the target audience for achieving the best effects. Otherwise, uncertainties and hesitancies could persist even after the confirmation of the absence of a risk or could spread throughout media with consequent possible inappropriate use of drugs or therapeutic failure of medicines. In this regard, case studies such as measles vaccination and autism and the COVID-19 infodemic are paradigmatic examples. In risk communication about medicines, it is important to identify the subjects involved, define their roles (senders or receivers) and characteristics, to build the message and its content, and choosing the appropriate media for conveying the message. Several expertise is also required, including rhetoric, ethics, social sciences, and pharmacoepidemiology.