Nursing Research Guide

DailyMed is the official provider of FDA label information (package inserts). This Web site provides a standard, comprehensive, up-to-date, look-up and download resource of medication content and labeling found in medication package inserts. DailyMed is notable for offering advanced searching, including searching by drug class, chemical structures, and active and inactive ingredients.

A reliable source of drug information from government agencies and other reputable sources. Content is current and updated frequently. Users may search multiple government-supported drug information databases from a single source or use the mobile-enabled site.

Marketed as a comprehensive site for locating prescription and over-the-counter drug information by relevance. Included are descriptions, indications, adverse effects, warnings, drug interactions, contraindications, active ingredients, clinical pharmacology, overdosage information, drug labels, and chemical structures.

Owned by a privately held trust, aims to provide “accurate and independent information on more than twenty-four thousand prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicine and natural products.” It strives to be “the Internet’s most trusted resource for drug and related health information.” Like Druglib, its intended audience is consumers and health care professionals.

Updated daily, this website offers accurate and timely information about prescriptions, biologics, and over-the-counter medications. The site follows US Health and Human Services quality peer-review guidelines. One drawback is the lack of an advanced search interface.

This freely available portal aims to provide peer-reviewed, clinical drug and disease information at the point of care to physicians and other clinical providers. Drug information appears to be provided by Cerner Multum. Categories include manufacturer package labeling, FDA announcements, analysis of primary medical literature, review articles, guidelines, drug links to suppliers, and textbooks. Since some of this material may be funded by “an external entity,” possible bias cannot be ruled out. A free site registration is required to view content. The site provides disease information, pill identification, a drug interactions checker, alerts, medical calculators, and tables comparing everything from medications within a class to an outline of medical conditions.A paid upgrade includes a broader scope of information from entities like the British Medical Group, including dosage calculators and printable patient handouts.

A product of the National Library of Medicine, supported by resources from the National Institutes of Health. Medication information comes from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists via AHFS Consumer Medication Information, and the consumer version of the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database. A mobile version features disease-state information and links to drug information.

The site promotes itself as being “the most trusted and commonly used drug information reference.” The scope is narrow, and focused on the prescribing and monitoring of over-the-counter and prescription medications. A mobile version of the PDR is freely available to registered prescribers; it includes information on more than 2,400 prescription drugs. Another unique service is the electronic delivery of mandated safety alerts to prescribers. Vitamin and dietary supplement information is absent. The PDR is an excellent reference for individuals working in hospitals or conducting patient-oriented research, since it details which laboratory work and disease states can be altered by taking a particular medication. It is useful for locating factual, reliable, unbiased material on drugs, but it does not provide background disease state, interactive drug interaction checking, pill identification, or clinical study links.