By Carol J. Mulvihill, R.N.,C., B.S.N., Editor of Connections Quarterly
Since the free internet link to the U.S. Pharmacopaea is no longer available, I have replaced this bookmark with two others which in my opinion are even more convenient to use.
The first is the Drug Finder located at
http://www.healthanswers.com/Sources/gsm/
You can also go to www.healthanswers.com/ and click on "find a
drug"
in
the left menu bar, it will take you to the Drug Finder page.
The reason I like this web site is because it has an index of drug names I can view and scroll through when I select a letter of the alphabet. I can search brand names and/or generic names. So now I don't need to worry about trying to spell some of those cumbersome drug names in order to get the information I need. I just need to know the letter it begins with and be able to recognize it on the alphabetical list and click! Much easier! I have never had any trouble with Netscape freezes while downloading information from this site.
The Drug Checker on the Dr. Koop web site features drug information and also has the unique feature of being able to provide information about drug interactions, when you enter a list of the various medications. The Drug Checker is located on the web page in the in the left menu bar under Health Resources. I have found the Drug Checker to be very useful in college health practice.
For example, I used the Drug Checker to check to see if a patient on Accutane could also take Amoxil and echinacea without any adverse drug interactions. This web site was quick in providing me with the information I needed, all within the time frame of the patient visit. Also, I was able to print out the drug information on Accutane for the student so he would be more familiar with the side effects and possible adverse reactions of his medication.
Researching drug information on the internet sure beats pulling the heavy Physician's Desk Reference (PDR) off of the shelf, and trying to read the small print and translate for the student the rather technical terminology contained therein.
If you have a favorite site for drug information for use in college health and particularly for patient education, please let me know, so I can pass the information on to our readers. Just send an e-mail to Carol J. Mulvihill at te following address: cjm6@pitt.edu
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