In recent years the public has clearly become markedly more interested in assuring the safety and effectiveness of its medicines. It is also critical that available medicines are used optimally, by both health care practitioners and patients. We need to know the extent to which an intervention does what it is really intended to do, under routine circumstances rather than ideal conditions, for those who receive it. Appropriate and valid pharmacoepidemiology methods are central to evaluating the safety and effectiveness of medicines and their use. This textbook is the abridged version of Brian Strom's Pharmacoepidemiology Fourth Edition, and presents the essential material for such evaluations. It provides methods, details of potential data sources, and information about evaluating the results and drawing conclusions. The layout and easy to read style will provide an accessible introduction to pharmacoepidemiology as well as a reference source for academics, public health practitioners, regulatory agencies, the pharmaceutical industry and the law.