Improving drug allergy management in Australia: education, communication and accurate information

Abstract

A drug allergy label is often applied to a patient after an adverse drug reaction (ADR), usually resulting in subsequent avoidance of the drug and related drugs. Recent attention has focused on antibiotic allergy labels and the benefits of delabelling.1 But drug allergy labels, which occur in up to 35% of patient electronic health records (EHRs), encompass all types of medications, with antibiotics, opiates and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs being among the most common (Box 1).2 Accurate and effective communication of drug allergy is crucial for safe prescribing, including sufficient information to enable assessment of the risk of reexposure compared with the risk of withholding the index drug and related drugs.