Harvard Pilgrim awarded FDA contract for drug monitoring

The Food and Drug Administration, in an attempt to ensure the safety of popular medicines, is partnering with one of the most prominent medical insurers in Massachusetts. It has awarded a contract for up to $150 million to Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute ‹ a collaboration between Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Harvard Medical School ‹ to spearhead a program that sifts through billions of prescriptions and other electronic health care data to investigate issues with FDA-approved drugs. Richard Platt, head of the Department of Population Medicine and professor of population medicine, is quoted.