A recent article published in the New York Times quoted the astounding statistic that as many as 7,000–10,000 deaths in the United States can be attributed on an annual basis to prescription errors. Countless hospital days, loss of productivity, and an atmosphere of distrust of modern medicine all result from such errors. Many causes can be found for these mistakes; drugs with completely different properties, uses, and toxicity profiles may have similar names. Polypharmacy, a common phenomenon in the elderly, places patients at risk for complex drug–drug interactions. Difficulty with high-volume record keeping and the loss of personal interaction with the “family pharmacist” certainly result in more patients receiving the wrong medication or dosage when a prescription is filled.Finally, the rapid pace of modern medical practices coupled with the ever–bewildering numbers of medications on the market result in a situation in which the busy practitioner may have difficulty keeping abreast of important aspects of the drugs they are prescribing. It was with these concerns in mind that we undertook the task of writing a manual of drug prescription for the practicing clinician. No one can be expected to commit to memory everything important about all the drugs available on the market. It can be quite time consuming and frustrating to search for important information on individual entries in a large comprehensive volume such as the Physician’s Desk Reference. Thus, our main objective in creating this book was to provide the most essential information on all commonly prescribed drugs in a concise, accurate andeasy-to-read manner.click here for download (source:weblog medicalbooks4everyone)
HANDBOOK PRESCRIPTION DRUGS
