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Introduction: In addition to the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), excipients and the pharmaceutical dosage form can also affect the overall effect of pharmacotherapy. Knowledge about these effects is not important only from the aspect of drug efficacy, but also from the aspect of pharmacovigilance. Materials and Methods: This paper presents secondary academic study results. Data on the dosage form and content of excipients were taken from SmPC documents on the official website of Medicines and Medical Devices Agency of Serbia. The presence of excipients with known effect (EKE) and their labeling was considered in accordance with the national and European regulations regarding this area. Results: We analyzed a total of 50 medicines for topical administration that are registered in Serbia. These all contained corticosteroids as API. Thirty-five (70 %) of them had one or more EKE. Creams had the highest number of different EKE per drug (3.25). Five out of seven identified EKE have the preservative function in formulations, which could be avoided by extemporaneous drug production. The labeling of these compounds was in accordance with the regulations in most drugs. Conclusions: The cause of an adverse drug reaction should be considered in a wider context and all the drug ingredients should be taken into account. In case of topical corticosteroids, over two third of drugs have the potential to cause adverse drug reactions that are non-API-related.

Introduction: Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem. Adherence to national guidelines is one of the key factors necessary for the rational use of antibiotics. Aim: The aim of the study was to examine characteristics of antibiotic prescribing practice in primary health care in Novi Sad. Method: The analysis was designed as a descriptive, cross-sectional study based on the data obtained from the health institution Cvejić Pharmacy. The guidelines available to physicians at the time of prescribing were used to assess the compliance of the prescribed antibiotics with the guidelines. Additionally, the most frequently dispensed antibiotics for all diagnoses were recorded and results were expressed as a percentage of frequency of analyzed antibiotic prescriptions. Results: The study has shown that antibiotic prescriptions make 5.48% of all prescriptions (719 out of 13115), 513 (71.35%) of which were established by national guidelines, and 206 (28.65%) for less frequent diagnoses which was not included in national guidelines. In the study sample, 297 (65.42%) terapeutical regimes had adequate terapeutical dosage. The most commonly prescribed antibiotic groups were: macrolides (35.18%), penicillins (28.68%) and cephalosporins (14.60%). Conclusions: Irrational prescribing and dispensing of antibiotics is both national and global problem. It is necessary to pay close attention to antibiotics prescribing and dispensing. The focus should be on national guidelines and their extension.