The art of drug safety

You have an infection, take antibiotics, and the symptoms disappear. Problem solved, right?

Peering into the body reveals a slightly different story. Along with a drug's intended effects, there are, of course, its side effects -- sometimes subtle or harmless, but sometimes damaging, as the recent furor over COX2 inhibitors demonstrates.

Now, a new traveling photo exhibit, called The Art of Safety, shows the body's positive and negative reactions to drugs at the cellular level. The purpose of the exhibition, according to the exhibition's Web site, "is to generate dialogue about safety, through the impact of the images on display."

I caught the exhibit at the annual Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) meeting in Boston, after which it's heading to the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, June 2-4, then to the Drug Information Association (DIA) Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, June 17-21.

If you would like to submit your images to the exhibition, visit the Art of Safety site here.

Click here to start the slide show.

Simon Frantz
mail@the-scientist.com

Art of Safety
http://www.quintiles.com/Spotlights/ArtOfSafety.htm