Drug utilization data in benefit analysis of drugs.

The usefulness of drug utilization data from the medical point of view is closely related to possibilities for benefit analysis of drug treatment. In drug regulatory work this analysis may be facilitated by more recent evaluations in connection with reviews when granting marketing of new drugs. The general difficulties in benefit analysis have been especially noticed following observations on international differences in the utilization of certain groups of drugs. These difficulties are discussed and the importance of new attempts taken to assess the benefit of the treatment is emphasized.