Can't I have my vitamin and eat it too...?

I came across another patient today who did not know herbs and vitamins can adversely react with medications. So, I was compelled to explain pharmacovigilance.

From Wikipedia:

Pharmacovigilance (PV) is the pharmacological science relating
to the detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects,
particularly long term and short term side effects of medicines.[1]
Generally speaking, pharmacovigilance is the science of collecting, monitoring,
researching, assessing and evaluating information from healthcare providers and
patients on the adverse effects of medications, biological
products, herbalism and traditional
medicines with a view to:

• identifying new information about hazards associated with medicines
  
• preventing harm to patients.