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Drugs and pharmaceutical information: Drug & pharmaceutical information resources

An introduction and links to some of the core information resources and databases available to guide decisions about the administration of drugs for the treatment of a range of health conditions.

Drug information resources

Australian Based Drug Monographs

Australian Medicines Handbook (AMH)

AMH is a peer-reviewed medicines prescribing guide for Australian health professionals. It aims to provide concise, practical, reliable, comparative drug information to promote quality use of medicines in Australia. Chapters are organised according to drug use types as well as allowing you to search for individual drugs. Significant features include the ability to search for interactions between drugs based on publicly available information and prescription guides for patient groups. Three calculators were provided to support drug administration decisions. Some AMH content is also available in the ClinicalKey drug monographs. 
 

AusDI (formerly known as Catalyst) provides access to Australian Independent Drug Monographs, pharmaceutical company product information, consumer medicine information, drug product images, a product identifier module and links to drug interaction systems. It is possible to search by brand name, active ingredient, therapeutic class or indication as well as full keyword searching.

eTG Therapeutic Guidelines

Searchable peer-reviewed clinical guidelines. Topics include analgesia, antibiotics, cardiovascular, respiratory, endocrinology, neurology, gastroenterology, dermatology, palliative care, psychotropics and drug prescribing in pregnancy and breastfeeding.  These guidelines provide independent, evidence-based, practical treatment advice to assist practitioners with decision making at the point of care. Its aim is to link guidelines with the quality use of medicines in Australia, based on the latest international literature.

MIMS online

Provides abbreviated and comprehensive medicines information, product images, consumer medicines information, drug interactions and pill identification.

International Drug Monographs

ClinicalKey

In addition to providing access to books and journal articles about medical studies and reviews, ClinicalKey supports browsing Clinical Practice content.  This includes a curated focus on drug monographs drawn from around the world. 

Martindale: the complete drug reference

Provides information on drugs in clinical use worldwide, as well as selected investigational and veterinary drugs, herbal and complementary medicines, pharmaceutical excipients, vitamins and nutritional agents, vaccines, radiopharmaceuticals, contrast media and diagnostic agents, medicinal gases, drugs of abuse and recreational drugs, toxic substances, disinfectants, and pesticides. Produced in Great Britain. 

MIMS online

Provides abbreviated and comprehensive medicines information, product images, consumer medicines information, drug interactions and pill identification. 

 

Access Pharmacy

Provides a range of pharmacy resources and curriculum topics. See these training videos about using this resource effectively.

Australian Pharmaceutical Formulary and Handbook (APF)

Most recent editions are located in the JRW and BJM Reference collections. The APF provides guidance on the effective use of medicines and assists with identifying drug-related issues, making clinical judgments and preparing extemporaneous products or modified oral formulations.

BMJ Best Practice

Point of care decision support tool providing evidence and guidelines covering prevention, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis. The Drugs database content provides information about dosing, availability, formulations, side effects and contraindications.

Point of care resource providing drug information, patient education, as well as drug-drug, drug-herb and herb-herb interactions information. 
 

​Biomedical database with a focus on drug and pharmacological journals, and provides sophisticated search functionality to find information on drugs and pharmaceuticals, including the new pharmacovigilance triple subheading feature (condition/drug/side effect).

DRUG Database

An Australian literature database produced by the National Drugs Sector Information Service (NDSIS). Indexes a wide variety of Australian source documents from drug and pharmaceutical journals, selected articles on the sociological and behavioural aspects of drugs, as well as government reports, statistics, books and conference papers.
 

 

UpToDate Drug Interactions Tool

 

Ovid Pharmacovigilance Tool

 

AMED

Allied and alternative health database. Subjects covered include acupuncture, homeopathy, hypnosis, chiropractic, osteopathy, rehabilitation, herbalism, holistic treatments, Chinese medicine, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and podiatry. 

National Centre for Complementary and Integrative Health

The US Government’s lead agency for scientific research on the diverse medical and healthcare systems, practices, and products that are not generally considered part of conventional medicine. 

Stockley's Herbal Medicines Interactions

A guide to the interactions of herbal medicines, dietary supplements and nutraceuticals with conventional medicines.

Library-subscribed resources

Topic Library Resources
Adverse effects Australian Medicines Handbook (AMH), AusDI, Embase, MIMS, UpToDate
Chemical data Martindale, Merck Index, Reaxys
Clinical trials ANZ Clinical Trials Registry, ClinicalKey, Cochrane Library 
Comparative information AccessPharmacy, AusDI, AMH
Compounding Australian Pharmaceutical Formulary (APF) 
Contraindications AusDI, MIMS, ClinicalKey 
Cost AusDI, MIMS, PBS Online
Diagnosis Best Practice, eTG Therapeutic Guidelines, UpToDate
Dosage recommendations AMH, AusDi, ClinicalKey, Martindale, MIMS
Drug administration AMH, AusDI, ClinicalKey, Martindale
Drug interactions AMH, AusDI, ClinicalKey, Martindale, MIMS, Reaxys, Stockley's Drug Interactions
Drugs in pregnancy and lactation eTG Therapeutic Guidelines, LactMed, Martindale
Herbal, homeopathic products & dietary supplements AMED, Martindale, Stockley's Herbal Medicines Interactions
Identification AusDI, MIMS
IV compatibility AusDI
Non-proprietary and proprietary names AusDI, Embase, Martindale, MIMS
Pharmacology ClinicalKey, Embase, Martindale
Therapeutic use AMH, APF, eTG Therapeutic Guidelines, Martindale, Medline
Toxicology Martindale, TOXNET

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