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You should know that the PDR is a collection of SELECTED drugs provided by manufacturers They have provided descriptions for well over 2,000 products, edited and approved by their departments. Drugs used for human therapy must be approved by the Food and Drug Administration for marketing, but are promoted and advertised by the manufacturer in various ways including the PDR. The United States Pharmacopeia (USP) is the compendium of choice with which the pharmaceutical industry must comply. The USP monograph describe individual drugs for identity, purity, and potency. The PDR monographs include the same information that the pharmaceutical package drug inserts show, e.g. chemistry, pharmacology, pharmaceutics, adverse effects, dosage, etc. There is also (I believe it's still extant) the United States Pharmacopeia Dispensing Information listing individual drugs with type of administration, category, precautions, diagnostic interferences, medical problems, patient check-ups, side effects, dosing, etc. Clearly, this volume is designed for the patient, whereas the PDR is the title indicates is for the physician, and the USP is for the pharmaceutical professional. Of course, there are many compendia for drugs: for instance Canada (and provinces) use both the USP and the British Pharmacopeia (BP) to enforce the law, whereas the common market countries use their own pharmacopeia (BP, Pharmacopeia Scandinavica, etc.) and the more recent European Pharmacopeia, which dos not cover as many drugs because the monographs therein must be approved by each participating country. I hope this sheds some light on the subject, and good luck. MM