Adverse events were defined as any new medical problem or exacerbation of an existing medical problem in a patient enrolled in the study.
Patients could spontaneously report such events to an investigator. In addition, at each visit, investigators asked patients the nonleading question,
“How have you felt since your last visit?” Each investigator was required to assess and report to the sponsor the seriousness and severity of each event and whether the event was probably associated with the study drug.
The sponsor then reported such events to the appropriate regulatory authorities and to the study’s independent safety oversight committee.