Physicians' Desk Reference
Encyclopedia
The Physicians' Desk Reference (PDR) is a commercially published compilation of manufacturers' prescribing information (package insert
) on prescription drug
s, updated annually. While designed to provide physician
s with the full legally mandated information relevant to writing prescriptions (just as its name suggests), it is widely available in libraries
and bookstores, widely used by other medical specialists, and in significant part valuable to consumers. It is financially supported in part by pharmaceutical manufacturing corporations which create drugs listed within its pages.
Since the late 20th century, a consumer edition has been offered at a much reduced price. Electronic editions are available on CD-ROM
and the World Wide Web
to subscribers. PDR is owned by the Thomson Corporation
of Toronto. In 1984, Paul C. Kranz and Michael Grondin travelled to Oradell, New Jersey, and presented to Medical Economics (then-publisher of the PDR) a prototype developed by Grondin on a TI 99/4A computer of how a digital copy of the PDR would work and benefit clinicians. The idea originally conceived by Kranz was well-received by the president and vice-president of IT and an agreement was struck to investigate. The result was the PDR on CD-ROM.
The main edition is usable by determined consumers in conjunction with a medical dictionary
. Many practicing physicians receive free copies of the PDR and are willing to give a patient a previous year's edition when they receive their new one but a recent edition generally differs from the current one by the absence of the drugs introduced during the course of the intervening year.
The PDR material contained includes:
. Often dosage information can be taken from phase 1 trial information where clinical drug information is incomplete, resulting in higher PDR-recommended dosages than therapeutically effective dosages for many medications. And since most of the information is taken from drug data sheets generated by drug manufacturers, it is more likely to not include drug studies reporting the worst side-effect and adverse effect data. This is opposed to evidence-based medicine or clinical reviewed material which examines all such data but is not contained within the PDR.
The PDR has also been criticized for its being paid for by the various pharmaceutical manufacturers that present mediciations within its pages. This criticism stems from the lack of special interest disclosure and the potential for guiding medical recommendations apart from evidence-based medicine The lack of medical editorial capacity within the PDR which is standard in the review of all scientific literature by informed scientific peers has also been criticized.
While proponents may argue that the controversies with the PDR may seem insignificant, critics allege that in fact, most physicians and pharmacists rely on it in a bound, online or PDA version for drug dosaging and the lack of transparency in its formation most certainly leads to adverse patient outcomes.
Package insert
A package insert or prescribing information is a document provided along with a prescription medication to provide additional information about that drug.-Responsible agencies:In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration determines the requirements...
) on prescription drug
Prescription drug
A prescription medication is a licensed medicine that is regulated by legislation to require a medical prescription before it can be obtained. The term is used to distinguish it from over-the-counter drugs which can be obtained without a prescription...
s, updated annually. While designed to provide physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
s with the full legally mandated information relevant to writing prescriptions (just as its name suggests), it is widely available in libraries
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
and bookstores, widely used by other medical specialists, and in significant part valuable to consumers. It is financially supported in part by pharmaceutical manufacturing corporations which create drugs listed within its pages.
Since the late 20th century, a consumer edition has been offered at a much reduced price. Electronic editions are available on CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
and the World Wide Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
to subscribers. PDR is owned by the Thomson Corporation
Thomson Corporation
The Thomson Corporation was one of the world's largest information companies.Thomson was active in financial services, healthcare sectors, law, science & technology research, and tax & accounting sectors...
of Toronto. In 1984, Paul C. Kranz and Michael Grondin travelled to Oradell, New Jersey, and presented to Medical Economics (then-publisher of the PDR) a prototype developed by Grondin on a TI 99/4A computer of how a digital copy of the PDR would work and benefit clinicians. The idea originally conceived by Kranz was well-received by the president and vice-president of IT and an agreement was struck to investigate. The result was the PDR on CD-ROM.
The main edition is usable by determined consumers in conjunction with a medical dictionary
Medical dictionary
A medical dictionary is a lexicon for words used in medicine. The three major English language medical dictionaries are Stedman's, Taber's, and Dorland's Pocket Medical Dictionary. Other significant medical dictionaries are distributed by Elsevier, the world's largest publisher of medical and...
. Many practicing physicians receive free copies of the PDR and are willing to give a patient a previous year's edition when they receive their new one but a recent edition generally differs from the current one by the absence of the drugs introduced during the course of the intervening year.
About the PDR
The 2011 version is the 65th edition, and has information on over 1,116 of the most commonly prescribed drugs.The PDR material contained includes:
- Comprehensive indexing (4 sections)
- by Manufacturer
- Products (by company's or trademarked drug name)
- Category index (for example, "antihistamines")
- Generic/chemical index (non-trademark common drug names)
- Color images of medications
- Product information, consistent with FDA labelling
- Chemical information
- Function/action
- Indications & Contraindications
- Trial research, side effects, warnings
Related references
There are several versions and related volumes:- PDR
- PDR for Nonprescription Drugs, Dietary Supplements, and Herbs
- PDR Drug Interactions and Side Effects Index
- PDRhealth - Version in lay terms.
- PDR Family Guide to Over-the-Counter Drugs - Lay term guide to non-prescription medication.
- PDR for Ophthalmic Medicines
- PDR Drug Guide for Mental Health Professionals
Controversies with the PDR
Originally distributed as a promotional item, the PDR has come under recent scrutiny with the lack of reporting of updated and accurate drug dosages along with adverse drug effectsAdverse drug reaction
An adverse drug reaction is an expression that describes harm associated with the use of given medications at a normal dosage. ADRs may occur following a single dose or prolonged administration of a drug or result from the combination of two or more drugs...
. Often dosage information can be taken from phase 1 trial information where clinical drug information is incomplete, resulting in higher PDR-recommended dosages than therapeutically effective dosages for many medications. And since most of the information is taken from drug data sheets generated by drug manufacturers, it is more likely to not include drug studies reporting the worst side-effect and adverse effect data. This is opposed to evidence-based medicine or clinical reviewed material which examines all such data but is not contained within the PDR.
The PDR has also been criticized for its being paid for by the various pharmaceutical manufacturers that present mediciations within its pages. This criticism stems from the lack of special interest disclosure and the potential for guiding medical recommendations apart from evidence-based medicine The lack of medical editorial capacity within the PDR which is standard in the review of all scientific literature by informed scientific peers has also been criticized.
While proponents may argue that the controversies with the PDR may seem insignificant, critics allege that in fact, most physicians and pharmacists rely on it in a bound, online or PDA version for drug dosaging and the lack of transparency in its formation most certainly leads to adverse patient outcomes.
Online version
- PDR online - online version, free for US medical professionals only.
- PDR Health - free consumer drug and medical information site.