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. 2024 May 9;16(5):e59975. doi: 10.7759/cureus.59975

Table 2. WHO-UMC causality assessment scale.

WHO-UMC: World Health Organization-Uppsala Monitoring Centre

Causality term Causality term  
Certain · Event or laboratory test abnormality, with a plausible time relationship to drug intake
· Cannot be explained by disease or other drugs
· Response to withdrawal plausible (pharmacologically, pathologically)
· Event definitive pharmacologically or phenomenologically (i.e., an objective and specific medical disorder or a recognised pharmacological phenomenon)
· Rechallenge satisfactory, if necessary
Probable / Likely · Event or laboratory test abnormality, with reasonable time relationship to drug intake
· Unlikely to be attributed to disease or other drugs
· Response to withdrawal clinically reasonable
· Rechallenge not required
Possible · Event or laboratory test abnormality, with reasonable time relationship to drug intake
· Could also be explained by disease or other drugs
· Information on drug withdrawal may be lacking or unclear
Unlikely · Event or laboratory test abnormality, with a time to drug intake that makes a relationship improbable (but not impossible)
· Disease or other drugs provide plausible explanations
Conditional / Unclassified · Event or laboratory test abnormality
· More data for proper assessment needed, or
· Additional data under examination
Un-assessable / Unclassifiable · Report suggesting an adverse reaction
· Cannot be judged because the information is insufficient or contradictory
· Data cannot be supplemented or verified