Clinical Pharmacology is a medical specialty and a resource in the health care system to support the proper and correct use of pharmaceuticals in all medical fields.
The goal is to ensure effective drug treatment with minimal adverse events. Our motto is: “The right drug should be prescribed for the right indication, in the right dose, at the right cost and to the right patient”.
The academic division is heavily involved in research and part of the Department of Laboratory Medicine at the Karolinska Institutet. The clinical department is located both at the Huddinge and the Solna sites of the Karolinska University Hospital. It is divided into six entities:
The Pharmacological Laboratory conducts analyses for therapeutic drug monitoring and diagnostics of intoxications and abuse of drugs, as well as evaluations of drug tolerance in patients.
The laboratory is accredited by SWEDAC, the Swedish Board for Accreditation and Conformity Assessment, in accordance with ISO 17025. Analyses included in the accreditation program are specified in the sampling instructions.
The Doping Control Laboratory is responsible for the analysis of substances used for doping purposes.
The Anti-Doping Hotline responds to questions from the public as well as from health care professionals and others on the risks associated with substances used for doping purposes.
The Clinical Pharmacology Trial Unit performs clinical trials in healthy volunteers and patients.
The Karolinska Drug Information Center (Karolic) investigates and responds to drug-related questions from health care professionals regarding drugs in general, interactions and adverse events as well as on drugs used during pregnancy and breast feeding. The documentation that the center produces is compiled in a special database, Drugline, which is available via Ovid at the Library of the Karolinska Institute.
The Unit for External Information
This unit provides the Drugs and Therapeutics Committees of the Stockholm County Council with expertise in clinical pharmacology and gives lectures/information on rational drug use to general practitioners and hospital specialists. Courses in rational drug use are also arranged for physicians in training.
The Drug Safety Unit compiles reports on suspected adverse reactions for the Stockholm-Gotland region in addition to conducting epidemiological studies on drug use and drug-related issues.