Customer Reviews

Physicians' Desk Reference 2009 (PDR, 63rd Edition)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

The book is a quality product. However, it was a replacement for an old issue and it was not what we expected in terms of reference content. It does not seem to consider generic medications and just doesn't list many manufacturers. It is currently on its way back to Amazon for refund, since none of the other offered editions have enough description available to determine if they're more user-friendly.

Some 2-3 years the PDR changed. It is now virtually a useless book. It does not contain many of the most common medications and is difficult to use to look up drugs. As an MD for over 25 years, I find it unacceptable and nursing drug books infinitely better.

I am a nurse educator responsible for purchasing drug books for my entire health care facility. In my experience (and based on feedback from my staff) I have discovered the following. As a definitive reference for drug descriptions, pharmacology, dosing and side effects this book is probably the best. However, the biggest drawbacks are:

1. It is called a DESK reference for a reason. The book is huge and weighty and not designed to tote about.

2. Practical considerations of giving the drug are buried in the data. Nursing drug books clearly list patient and family education, assessment and drug effects as well as interactions.

For these reasons, I buy nursing drug books for my nursing units and keep one of these references around to fill in the gaps.

The late, great George Carlin once wryly observed that: "Somewhere out in America is the country's worst doctor, and tomorrow, he's going to be seeing patients." For some reason that quotation came to mind as I read some of the negative reviews of this modest little tome here on this site, complaining about the book's organization (by company, not alphabetically), and commenting on how "hard" it was to look up information for a particular drug.

Well, it IS true the book is organized that way, probably because the publishers bundle together the information as it comes in from the individual drug companies to keep the production costs way down, but is it "hard" to find information on a particular drug? Hmmmmm.

There is that "Brand and Generic Name Index" in Section 2 at the front of the book, where you can look up the specific drug you're interested in and find a) what page you can locate the the picture of it in Section 4, "Product Identification Guide" and b) what page the full description can be found in the main body of the book, Section 5. It took me at least 30 seconds to figure this out, and I was then able to start using the book fully for its intended purpose. So I would observe that it is rather disturbing to learn there are doctors and pharmacists practicing out there (or people who claim to be such, anyway), who are apparently baffled by the organization of this book, and yet they have patients trusting them to correctly sort out their maladies or mix their medications in the correct dosages. Yikes...

For my part, since I am not a medical professional, only a curious layman who has always wanted a good resource for finding out more about the medications my doctors are prescribing to me and my family, I find this book extremely useful and informative. I won't gainsay the reviews from medical professionals who say this book is missing many common drugs, does not address generics, or that there are other, better resources for the medical professional. That may well be true. But I will observe that every drug that I have ever had prescribed to me, or my wife or kids have ever had prescribed, was in there. This includes Xyzal, the relatively new allergy med my doctor just recommended for me. So I would surmise that this is likely a nearly complete, but still incomplete compendium. I can understand why this might be frustrating to a pharmacist. But that said, I'd be curious to find out if a 100% complete compendium actually exists. Is such a thing even possible?

I waited until the end of 2009, when the 2010 version had already come out, to score myself a low-cost used version, knowing that virtually all the information will still be good for years to come. It's not like the drug companies are futzing with the formulas to make Allegra or Flomax or, God help us, Viagra different every year. Come 2020 I'll probably pick up another copy, if I'm still lucky to be left half alive (as Pete Townsend might say). With this book I was able to find out everything I ever wanted to know about a particular drug - proper dosing, side effects, test results - the only leap of faith it required me to make was to assume that the drug companies are truly being forthcoming with their information and are not attempting to cover anything up the way they were, say, hiding things in that remake of "The Fugitive" with Harrison Ford that came out a few years ago. Maybe they are, but when I see a copy of this book in the offices of many of my doctors, I suspect it probably is, for the most part, a reputable source of information, and I can probably dial down my cynicism and paranoia a little bit.

To summarize, I won't call this the best $30 I ever spent, but on the other hand, getting a used version at half-price at the end of the year was well worth it, at least to me. Maybe this isn't the best data source for true professionals, but for my part, it more than meets my needs.

I have found this reference book to be difficult to use...If you know the company who makes the drugs, then it could be helpful but to find individual drugs, uses for etc, I would research another reference book....As a Medical Transcriptionist, it is no value to me.

indispensable guide for the medical field. buyer shipped quickly and answered emails fast. no complaints

Being a pharmacist, I need a book that will give me complete drug information in a hurry. I sure didn't find that here. This PDR is not at all user friendly. The drugs are in order of manufacturer's name. The indices are small and very very incomplete; virtually unusable. Many of the most widely prescribed medications are not even in this reference. The best thing I found about this book is that it has soft pages, just in case I find myself needing some soft pages sometime.

This is an excellent book to have on hand to review your drugs. If you are a nursing student, it will help for all those drugs not in your nursing drug book. Recommend.

The PDR has never been my favorite source for drug info because defying all logic, drugs are listed by manufacturer. This means more often than not you need to check the index first to determine the manufacturer in order to look up a drug. What nonsense!!

Second problem in recent years is that many common and older drugs are left out and generics have no useful info merely being listed. Its as if the generics didn't pay their PDR dues and get short shrift.

One word of warning regarding the CD-ROM edition. It lasts only about 20 months, then after a 2 week warning self destructs. This is totally absurd and really mean spirited on the part of the PDR people. Frankly I can't see the difference between paying for a print or digital version and after 25 years I can honestly say I have never had a Book PDR go up in flames spontaneously.

Better to avoid altogether and get either the DRUG FACTS and COMPARISONS or the DRUG INFORMATION HANDBOOK. Both are smaller, complete and easier to use.

Doc J

What can you say about a PDR? The PDR arrived quickly, and was in good condition. Much more reasonably priced than thru a bookstore. Glad I browsed and found it on Amazon.com.