Nursing Resource Guide

Drugs.com (http://www.drugs.com/), 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. Consumer drug information is available in both Spanish and English, with tabs provided for navigating within monographs. Unfortunately, individual pages require scrolling, and newer monographs may be limited; however, information is complete and appropriately organized by audience. Searching is by brand or generic drug name, medical condition, or the first letter of a drug’s name. Spell-check is provided in the form of “did you mean?” or a phonetic search. Page-loading time is reasonable.

Drug information is provided primarily for medications sold in the United States. International drug name information is available, in multiple languages, for over forty thousand medications marketed outside the United States. Interactive pill identification, news, drugs by class or condition, side effects, drug interactions, dosage, pregnancy/lactation advice, pharmaceutical company information, pharmacokinetics, and clinical trial information are all offered.

Drugs.com gives the last date of review for general site information and pages via individual resources (i.e., updated from resource X, date Y). Drug information for the site is obtained from Wolters Kluwer, Truven, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, and Cerner Multum, with material drawn from a number of other sources, including Harvard Health Publications, FDA-approved product labels, the National Library of Medicine, and the Physicians Desk Reference (PDR). Information is updated monthly from Cerner and from Wolters Kluwer, and quarterly from Truven and the PDR, with news, articles, and new drugs added daily. Additional information about common illnesses is provided via Care Guides, written for a sixth- to eighth-grade reading level.

The site’s supported material and the vendors from which it draws are impressive and reputable. Drugs.com employs an editorial staff of registered pharmacists; information is compiled by pharmacists, physicians, and medical journalists. The site provides a contact form, FAQ section, and support community to answer questions. The presence of advertisements within most pages impedes navigation, and could lead to bias in information presentation and interpretation. Users may print pages and share them via social media or e-mail. A medical app allows users to locate drug information, identify pills, check for drug interactions, and create a personal account. Enhanced search apps are available for a fee. Notably, the site provides information on veterinary medications, offering over five thousand monographs for both medications and diagnostics, organized by species and treatment type. Drugs.com is comprehensive, reliable, and current, with authoritative sources that primarily are vetted by professional practitioners.