Humana Inc. is teaming up with the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine to study how to improve prescription drug safety and avoid adverse drug reactions.
The partners have launched the Pharmacovigilance Initiative, a new program that will track trends in side effects and adverse reactions for a wide range of medications, according to a news release.
The initiative will include the analysis of 41,000 diabetics in Humana's membership, including Avandia users. Avandia is the diabetes drug that recently has come under fire because of a reported increase in heart attack risk.
A multi-disciplinary advisory board will be appointed for the initiative. The board will work to determine the scope of the project and communicate research findings to the public.
That communication is expected to begin through public releases and a Web site in early 2008.
Louisville-based Humana (NYSE: HUM) is one of the nation's largest health-benefits providers, with about 11.3 million medical members. The insurer has about 500,000 enrollees in the Tri-State.
