Customer Reviews

PDR: Physicians' Desk Reference, 2002 (Hospital/Library Version)

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The PDR, published annually and continually updated, is *the* desk reference for any doctor who prescribes prescription medications. It contains detailed information on dosage, contraindictions, med interactions, all the things that the manufacturer's reps aren't likely to mention when selling your doctor on a featured drug.
Individuals who take several meds for comorbid chronic conditions will welcome information besides the little orange "May cause drowsiness" stickers on the med bottles, and with the available update service will keep and use the PDR for years to come.
Am I the only person who removes those stickers and places them on boring things at work?
Yours in healing...

Although this information is very useful, it is manufacturers' self-reported data. It doe not necessarily post studies that are actually done on target populations - children for Ritalin for example. So you cannot rely upon the information as if it were done by objective third parties.

Nonetheless it is very useful to have. It is a shame that we don't have much objective information on drugs, particularly after so many recalls and recent problems with shaded data.

Everybody shold own a copy of this reference book. I have had doctors write out a perscription for me that would be lethal or at best land me into the hospital because they are not up on pharmacology.They practice medical care whch often is one dimensional for a condition without taking into the other medications the patients are taking and are in too much of a hurry to monitor medications. I have had pharmacists fill perscriptions ,thinking their computers would red flag medications that should not be mixed, but the pharmacist cannot keep up with all of the medications, and their computers are not programmed to "red flag". I have had to ask for print outs and the doctors resent being called on if meds they ordered were dangerous with other medical conditions. So patients need to cross-reference the medications themselves.This book needs to be kept up to date and at a place of easy accessibility at home for every patient.Mistakes are made too easily and no one wants to take responsibility for the mistakes of pharmacists or physicians. Patients need to become knowledgeabe of every dangerous interaction with conditions they have, or other medications they are taking. The book is very large and bulky, but it has a tremendous amount of information contained in it. There is a section of generic name, as well as brand names. New medications come out every year and a patient needs to know more than the small print out the pharmacy supplies. It is easy for a doctor to use a laptop computer,list medical conditions and information, including medications a patient is on and cross reference. I have seen an excellent doctor do this to keep a patient well. Unfortunately, not many doctors either can be bothered or know how to do this, so patients have needed to monitor their medications and become knowledgeable or they take high risks leaving their trust in a person who has an MD after their name. They take for granted the title has endowments of high credibility. The PDR is essential for a patient to keep themselves out of harms way. Just as in any field some doctors are very good and some more interested in their day off at the golf course.As time goes on, patients have needed to seriosly question the quality of their doctor and the medications that he is perscribing. The patient needs a reference book to read all of the information of the medications, that their doctor has not paid attention to for good medicine. I prefer a doctor that earned a good reputation, not one that is "practicing" on me with medications he is not familar with that a pharmacudical reprsentative gave him samples of, so he orders whatever a salesman told him to order. Get this PDR and think things through before blindly trusting a doctor that has not even considered all of the interactions that could possibly prove fatal. Doctors who are "too busy" to bother are dangerous. Mrs Symmington

This book is a invaluable reference. Buy it, and use it.