Do I take this medication with food or without?
Can I drink (alcohol, citrus juice, milk) with these meds? Does this medicine react with other supplements or medications that I’m already taking?
Learn to run drug interactions quickly and accurately. Find the answers to these and other medication-related questions by attending this workshop!
Medication Quick Facts
- Nearly 1/3 of US adults take 5 or MORE medications
- ADE = adverse drug event
- Every year, ADEs account for:
-
100,000 hospitalizations
700, 000 ER visits - ADEs affect nearly 5% of all hospitalized patients and even higher numbers of ambulatory patients
- Enter drugs one at a time.
- The database will suggest medications under the search box.
- Make certain to select (or type) the correct drug name
- If you are not certain of the spelling, check your medication bottle or contact your healthcare provider
- Many drugs have similar spellings
- Use the arrow buttons to add or delete drugs from your list
- You can include prescription and over-the-counter drugs, vitamins, & supplements in your search
- Click on the Add Allergies button and enter allergies (shellfish or penicillin for example)
- Select the submit button when you have added all medications and any allergies
- Use the tabs acros the top to select type of interaction such as drug-drug or ethanol (alcohol)
- For all interaction types, scroll down the results list
- Severity rated as: contraindicated (should not be used), major, moderate, minor, unknown
- Documentation (in the medical literature): excellent, good, fair, unknown
- click on linked titles for more information and references
The above data is from the AHRQ Patient Safety Primer: Medication Errors
Drug & Pharmacy Websites
"Best Bet" resources are indicated with this yellow star
CenterWatch Clinical Trials Listing Service
Includes information on new drug therapies in research and those recently approved by the FDA
Consumer drug information from the FDA (Food and Drug Administration)
The Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) maintains a collection of educational materials on topics related to buying and using medicine safely. They include brochures, articles, pamphlets, posters, public services announcements, and more.
DailyMed
Maintained by the National Library of Medicine, this site provides high quality drug information including FDA approved labels (package inserts). It is designed to supply health information providers and the public with a standard, comprehensive, up-to-date, look-up and download resource of medication content and labeling as found in medication package inserts
Drugs.com
A drug information database for consumers and medical professionals, providing information about prescription and over-the-counter medications, treatment notes for specific diseases and conditions, and topical articles and news related to pharmaceuticals
Herb Research Foundation (HRF)
A nonprofit research and educational organization focusing on herbs and medicinal plants
Johns Hopkins Antibiotic Guide
The Antibiotic Guide is a "decision support tool" intended to provide clinicians with concise, digested, timely information about the diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases. The information is arranged so that it is clinically useful at the point of care
MEDLINEplus National Library of Medicine
Information on thousands of prescription and over-the-counter medications provided through two drug resources -- MedMaster, a product of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), and the USP DI Advice for the Patient, a product of the United States Pharmacopeia (USP)
Medscape Multi-Drug Interaction Checker
Use the search field to look up prescription or OTC drugs, and herbal supplements then add all of your medications to view interactions
RxList - The Internet Drug Index
Contains a database of approximately 5,000 product names that is updated regularly including professional monographs derived from FDA approved labeling and patient-oriented monographs. Has a pill identifier and an interaction checker section
SafeMedication.com
Easy-to-read information on more than 800 drugs sponsored by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). Provides tips on taking medicines safely and has a downloadable "My Medication List" for keeping track of all the necessary information on medications, herbs & supplements that you take
✔ Drug Interactions in Micromedex
MICROMEDEX Healthcare Series provides full-text information supporting clinical care decisions including: drug monographs and evaluations, drug dosages and drug interactions, drug product identification, reproductive risks, toxicity management, alternative medicine/herbal preparations information, acute/emergency care guidelines, drug, disease and condition information for patients, laboratory test information, dosage calculators, nomograms, and references
Many drug-related resources are located within the point-of-care clinical database, Micromedex. **Accessing Micromedex from on campus is automatic. Access from off campus requires last name and library barcode**
To run a drug interaction in Micromedex, click on the Drug Interactions tab located at the top of the main page
DISCLAIMER: Remember to discuss all findings with your pharmacist and healthcare providers. Do NOT "practice without a license"--refer all questions and concerns to medical professionals! They can review results and apply them to your unique medical case.