- Email: [email protected]
Physician’s Drug Handbook, 10th Edition
Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine (2003) 10, 205–210
BOOK REVIEWS
For each generic drug the amount of information available is most detailed and comprehensive. Firstly the trade names, marking with a solid diamond products only available in Canada; secondly the pharmacologic classification; thirdly the therapeutic classification followed by the pregnancy risk category. The risk categories are A–D included X and NR, categories reflecting the drugs potential to cause birth defects or foetal death. The reference box at the front of the book guides us to the pregnancy risk categories. This is detail we lack in MIMS. As appropriate the next fine identities controlled substance schedule (II–IV or V) as assigned to the drug by the Drug Enforcement Agency, clearly another area where differences potentially arise between the two sides of ‘‘the pond’’.
Physician’s Drug Handbook, 10th Edition Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, editors, 2003 ISBN 1-58255-228 Price: £28.00 This book comes from the other side of the ‘‘pond’’. Therefore it was somewhat of a surprise to be asked to review it and to find it among the display books at the annual Association of Police Surgeon’s conference in Brighton this year. Having worked in the American system for several years in the 1980s I was used to the PDR – Physicians Desk Reference – that was scattered around the hospital and our constant reference manual. How I missed MIMS! The PDR was a large heavy tome A4 size weighing 4 lb. As the Physician’s Drug Handbook is now in it’s 10th edition I presume it was around at the time but I was not fortunate enough to be introduced to it. It would have fitted my white coat pocket neatly, as did MIMS in previous years — A3 & 13=4 lb. This handbook is most comprehensive being more inclusive than either MIMS or the BNF. One needs to be aware of and alert to many different drug trade names; differences in some abbreviations for example CBC – equivalent to the UK FBC; BUN – Blood urea nitrate; EENT – Eyes, ears, nose and throat; hs at bedtime. Assistance is provided at the beginning of the book with a listed guide to abbreviations and one is rapidly acclimatised. Somewhat harder to navigate are commonly used drugs in the UK that are apparently absent, e.g., paracetamol. In the States acetaminophen is the equivalent, which, if one is not aware, will be impossible to find. A further potential difficulty on this side of ‘‘the pond’’ is the listed telephone numbers of drug companies in the continent of America. The website address however, is listed for easy access. At the front of the book are synopses of 39 major pharmaceutical classes containing helpful, comparisons between different drugs within the class. The bulk of the book is made up of drugs listed alphabetically by generic name. The index at the back does, however, still include lists of trade names and therapeutic indications along with generic drug names for ease of access.
Available forms Preparations available for each of the drugs such as tablets, capsules, solutions or injections along with available dosage forms and strengths and whether the drug is prescribed only or not. Again there may be important differences between the two continents. Indications and dosages Once more this is comprehensive, including special dosage adjustments for specific patient groups such as elderly; renal or hepatic impairment. An open diamond signals a clinically accepted but unlabelled use. Pharmacodynamic and pharmocokinetics follow. Contra indications and precautions Once more are comprehensively listed. Interactions Important interactions are subdivided into four categories; drug drug, drug herb, drug food and drug lifestyle, i.e., once more, more detail than we are used to in the UK. Adverse reactions These are arranged in body system order if possible and if not are listed under ‘‘other’’. Common reactions are listed in italic type (those experienced by at least 10% of the people taking the drug); less common ones in Roman type; life threatening reactions in bold italic type and reactions that are both common and life threatening are in bold small capital letters. 205
206 Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine Effects on lab results What is a very useful addition to the details one needs on a daily basis as a prescriber, as are the details listed under overdose and treatment, summarising the signs and symptoms of overdose and recommended specific treatment. Special considerations Not only is advice regarding administering the drug, caring for the patient during therapy, preventing and treating adverse reactions and storing the drug given, this section also includes special tips for monitoring the effect of drug therapy and for administering the drug to pregnant or breast feeding, paediatric and geriatric patients. A special alert logo draws attention to particularly important information. Patient education How helpful to have a fully inclusive list of what to tell the patient! Next comes a table of selected non-narcotic analgesic combination products. This is of very limited use to us in the UK as the drugs listed often include acetaminophen and none of the trade names seem at all familiar. Likewise the following table of selected narcotic analgesic combination products is of very limited value. However guidelines for use of selected antimicrobials are clearly universal and most welcome. Dialyzable drugs are listed followed by topical drugs. The latter seems remarkably short although detailed. One immediately wonders where all the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory gels and hormone replacement patches are. The mystery of cytochrome P-450 enzymes and common drug interactions is very neatly revealed in a table although it is stated that the absence of a drug from the table does not necessarily imply that it is not metabolised by one of the CYP enzymes! Therapeutic drug monitoring guidelines again seem remarkably short and one wonders where the statins are and the anti-epileptic medication in common use? How marvellous however to find twelve pages on herbal medications with names, contents, reported uses, considerations and patient education. There is some mention of drug interaction between herbal medications and conventional therapy but it is unfortunately not comprehensive, therefore one must resort to other means for these details. In summary, this book is certainly worth having as an adjunct to our BNF and MIMS but could not possibly replace them unless specific to the UK.
Dr SHEILA PAUL Forensic Physician GP, Medical Officer Community Drug and Alcohol Team Buckinghamshire, UK E-mail address: [email protected] doi:10.1016/S1353-1131(03)00065-8
Kochar’s Concise Textbook of Medicine, Fourth Edition Lippincott, Williams and Wilson, Baltimore, USA, 2003
Initially, though appearing to be a daunting book for those unused to the American style set up of medical textbooks, it is easy to settle down with and is clear, concise and easy to read. The book is divided up into 15 parts and these are subdivided into various chapters. Part I is entitled ‘‘The Art and Science of Medicine’’ and deals with the various roles played by a physician, medical ethics and medical genetics. Following this first part comes: allergy and immunology, behavioral medicine, cardiovascular disease, dermatological disorders, endocrine and metabolic disorders, gastro-enterology and disease of the liver, geriatric medicine, haematological disorders, infectious disease, kidney diseases, electrolyte disorders and hypertension, neurological disorders, oncology, pulmonary diseases and finally rheumatic diseases. At the end of each Part there is a set of multiple choice questions with sensible one-only answer solutions given at the end, rather than the interminable answer combinations that serve more to confuse and irritate, rather than educate. Here also there is a useful subject specific bibliography with reading suggestions, rather than merely a list of references to be ploughed through. The line drawings and colour illustrations in the allergy and immunology section are excellent. The presence of the occasional mnemonic in other sections a nice touch. There are numerous ECGs, X-rays and scans to illustrate the relevant chapters. Subjects dealt with of forensic interest are relatively few. However, there is mention of sudden death, suicide, poisoning, and overdose. The chapter on Substance Abuse and Dependence in Part three – Behavioural medicine deals mainly with alcohol and tobacco, with only a relatively small section on Class A drugs, marijuana, and others. This is followed by a chapter on clinical toxicology that is
BOOK REVIEWS
For each generic drug the amount of information available is most detailed and comprehensive. Firstly the trade names, marking with a solid diamond products only available in Canada; secondly the pharmacologic classification; thirdly the therapeutic classification followed by the pregnancy risk category. The risk categories are A–D included X and NR, categories reflecting the drugs potential to cause birth defects or foetal death. The reference box at the front of the book guides us to the pregnancy risk categories. This is detail we lack in MIMS. As appropriate the next fine identities controlled substance schedule (II–IV or V) as assigned to the drug by the Drug Enforcement Agency, clearly another area where differences potentially arise between the two sides of ‘‘the pond’’.
Physician’s Drug Handbook, 10th Edition Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, editors, 2003 ISBN 1-58255-228 Price: £28.00 This book comes from the other side of the ‘‘pond’’. Therefore it was somewhat of a surprise to be asked to review it and to find it among the display books at the annual Association of Police Surgeon’s conference in Brighton this year. Having worked in the American system for several years in the 1980s I was used to the PDR – Physicians Desk Reference – that was scattered around the hospital and our constant reference manual. How I missed MIMS! The PDR was a large heavy tome A4 size weighing 4 lb. As the Physician’s Drug Handbook is now in it’s 10th edition I presume it was around at the time but I was not fortunate enough to be introduced to it. It would have fitted my white coat pocket neatly, as did MIMS in previous years — A3 & 13=4 lb. This handbook is most comprehensive being more inclusive than either MIMS or the BNF. One needs to be aware of and alert to many different drug trade names; differences in some abbreviations for example CBC – equivalent to the UK FBC; BUN – Blood urea nitrate; EENT – Eyes, ears, nose and throat; hs at bedtime. Assistance is provided at the beginning of the book with a listed guide to abbreviations and one is rapidly acclimatised. Somewhat harder to navigate are commonly used drugs in the UK that are apparently absent, e.g., paracetamol. In the States acetaminophen is the equivalent, which, if one is not aware, will be impossible to find. A further potential difficulty on this side of ‘‘the pond’’ is the listed telephone numbers of drug companies in the continent of America. The website address however, is listed for easy access. At the front of the book are synopses of 39 major pharmaceutical classes containing helpful, comparisons between different drugs within the class. The bulk of the book is made up of drugs listed alphabetically by generic name. The index at the back does, however, still include lists of trade names and therapeutic indications along with generic drug names for ease of access.
Available forms Preparations available for each of the drugs such as tablets, capsules, solutions or injections along with available dosage forms and strengths and whether the drug is prescribed only or not. Again there may be important differences between the two continents. Indications and dosages Once more this is comprehensive, including special dosage adjustments for specific patient groups such as elderly; renal or hepatic impairment. An open diamond signals a clinically accepted but unlabelled use. Pharmacodynamic and pharmocokinetics follow. Contra indications and precautions Once more are comprehensively listed. Interactions Important interactions are subdivided into four categories; drug drug, drug herb, drug food and drug lifestyle, i.e., once more, more detail than we are used to in the UK. Adverse reactions These are arranged in body system order if possible and if not are listed under ‘‘other’’. Common reactions are listed in italic type (those experienced by at least 10% of the people taking the drug); less common ones in Roman type; life threatening reactions in bold italic type and reactions that are both common and life threatening are in bold small capital letters. 205
206 Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine Effects on lab results What is a very useful addition to the details one needs on a daily basis as a prescriber, as are the details listed under overdose and treatment, summarising the signs and symptoms of overdose and recommended specific treatment. Special considerations Not only is advice regarding administering the drug, caring for the patient during therapy, preventing and treating adverse reactions and storing the drug given, this section also includes special tips for monitoring the effect of drug therapy and for administering the drug to pregnant or breast feeding, paediatric and geriatric patients. A special alert logo draws attention to particularly important information. Patient education How helpful to have a fully inclusive list of what to tell the patient! Next comes a table of selected non-narcotic analgesic combination products. This is of very limited use to us in the UK as the drugs listed often include acetaminophen and none of the trade names seem at all familiar. Likewise the following table of selected narcotic analgesic combination products is of very limited value. However guidelines for use of selected antimicrobials are clearly universal and most welcome. Dialyzable drugs are listed followed by topical drugs. The latter seems remarkably short although detailed. One immediately wonders where all the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory gels and hormone replacement patches are. The mystery of cytochrome P-450 enzymes and common drug interactions is very neatly revealed in a table although it is stated that the absence of a drug from the table does not necessarily imply that it is not metabolised by one of the CYP enzymes! Therapeutic drug monitoring guidelines again seem remarkably short and one wonders where the statins are and the anti-epileptic medication in common use? How marvellous however to find twelve pages on herbal medications with names, contents, reported uses, considerations and patient education. There is some mention of drug interaction between herbal medications and conventional therapy but it is unfortunately not comprehensive, therefore one must resort to other means for these details. In summary, this book is certainly worth having as an adjunct to our BNF and MIMS but could not possibly replace them unless specific to the UK.
Dr SHEILA PAUL Forensic Physician GP, Medical Officer Community Drug and Alcohol Team Buckinghamshire, UK E-mail address: [email protected] doi:10.1016/S1353-1131(03)00065-8
Kochar’s Concise Textbook of Medicine, Fourth Edition Lippincott, Williams and Wilson, Baltimore, USA, 2003
Initially, though appearing to be a daunting book for those unused to the American style set up of medical textbooks, it is easy to settle down with and is clear, concise and easy to read. The book is divided up into 15 parts and these are subdivided into various chapters. Part I is entitled ‘‘The Art and Science of Medicine’’ and deals with the various roles played by a physician, medical ethics and medical genetics. Following this first part comes: allergy and immunology, behavioral medicine, cardiovascular disease, dermatological disorders, endocrine and metabolic disorders, gastro-enterology and disease of the liver, geriatric medicine, haematological disorders, infectious disease, kidney diseases, electrolyte disorders and hypertension, neurological disorders, oncology, pulmonary diseases and finally rheumatic diseases. At the end of each Part there is a set of multiple choice questions with sensible one-only answer solutions given at the end, rather than the interminable answer combinations that serve more to confuse and irritate, rather than educate. Here also there is a useful subject specific bibliography with reading suggestions, rather than merely a list of references to be ploughed through. The line drawings and colour illustrations in the allergy and immunology section are excellent. The presence of the occasional mnemonic in other sections a nice touch. There are numerous ECGs, X-rays and scans to illustrate the relevant chapters. Subjects dealt with of forensic interest are relatively few. However, there is mention of sudden death, suicide, poisoning, and overdose. The chapter on Substance Abuse and Dependence in Part three – Behavioural medicine deals mainly with alcohol and tobacco, with only a relatively small section on Class A drugs, marijuana, and others. This is followed by a chapter on clinical toxicology that is