Pharmacy Consumer Health Information

Drug Information | Alternative Medicine Information | Medical Information By Disease or Condition | Health Insurance Information | Health Libraries | Consumer Health Information Databases

Much of the best and the worst health information is available through the Internet. Here is how to find some of the best:

Drug Information

• MEDLINEplus Drug Information (www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginformation.html)

  Information on thousands of over-the-counter and prescription medications from 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). MEDLINEplus also offers information by topic (such as diabetes and immunizations), a dictionary, directories, and links to PubMed.

• Drugs.com (www.drugs.com/)

  Drug information from Cerner Multum, Physicians' Desk Reference, and Thomson Micromedex. Includes recent FDA approvals, Interaction Checker, Pill Identifier where you can search by imprint or description, and a drug image database.

• RxList the Internet Drug Index (www.rxlist.com)

  RxList was founded and is maintained by Neil Sandow, Pharm.D. a licensed California Pharmacist and includes over-the-counter, prescription, and alternative medicines. Also find a medical dictionary, a list of the top 2001 drugs prescribed in the previous year, and ability to search by NDC or imprint code.

• PDRhealth (www.pdrhealth.com/)

  This site includes prescription drugs only. Some of the entries have photographs of the medications. Patients will also find a limited amount of "disease overviews."

New Drugs

• Federal Drug Administration Consumer Drug Information (www.fda.gov/cder/drug/DrugSafety/DrugIndex.htm)

  Consumer-oriented information about drugs approved after January 1998. At the end of each drug entry, find the package insert.

Drug Recalls

• FDA Medwatch (www.fda.gov/medwatch/index.html)

  This page includes a recall and safety alerts archive for food, drugs, and nutritional supplements as well as the recalls for fractionated blood and plasma products, medical devices, veterinary products, and notifications of drug shortages.

• FDA E-mail Mailing Lists (www.fda.gov/cder/cdernew/listserv.html)

  FDA e-mail listservs include MedWatch (medical safety alerts), alerts related to drug shortages, and updates to the FDA's web site.

Alternative Medicine Information

• National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (nccam.nih.gov)

  Part of the National Institutes of Health, NCCAM offers alternative therapy information by therapy or by disease or conditions. Click on "Health Information" at the top left side of the page. You may find a consumer-oriented treatment page or a more detailed "evidence report."

• Combined Health Information Database (chid.nih.gov/index.html)

  "CHID is a bibliographic database produced by health-related agencies of the Federal Government. This database provides titles, abstracts, and availability information for health information and health education resources. CHID lists a wealth of health promotion and education materials and program descriptions that are not indexed elsewhere."

• RxList Alternatives (www.rxlist.com/alternative.htm)

  Provides alternative medicine information in helpful frequently asked question (FAQ) format or patient information monographs on a wide variety of herbal medications.

Medical Information By Disease or Condition

• MEDLINEplus (www.medlineplus.gov)

  The best place on the Web for consumer health information.

• FamilyDoctor.org (American Academy of Family Physicians) (www.familydoctor.org)

  Includes consumer health information in English and Spanish, preventive medicine information, a consumer-friendly medical dictionary, a directory of Family Practice health care providers, and drug information.

• The Merck Manual-Home Edition (www.merckhomeedition.com)

  Based on the Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy for consumers.

• HealthFinder (www.healthfinder.gov)

  From the US Department of Health and Human Services, find reliable health information for consumers hand-picked from government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and universities.

• QuackWatch: Your Guide to Health, Fraud, Quackery, and Intelligent Decisions (www.quackwatch.com)

  Operated by Stephen Barrett, MD, this site provides warnings about quackery that consumers will encounter on theWeb and on pharmacy shelves (among other places).

• Health on the Net Foundation (www.hon.ch)

  "The Health On the Net Foundation (HON), created in 1995, is a not-for-profit International Swiss Organization. HON's mission is to guide lay persons or non-medical users and medical practitioners to useful and reliable online medical and health information."

Health Insurance Information

• Medicare: The Official US Government Site for People with Medicare
  (www.medicare.gov)

Local Public and Consumer Health Libraries

Johnson County Public Library (www.jocolibrary.com)
JoCoHealth.net (www.jocohealth.net)

Kansas City Public Library (www.kclibrary.org)

Mid-Continent Public Library (www.mcpl.lib.mo.us)

St. Joseph Health Center
Health Sciences Library
1000 Carondelet Drive
Kansas City, MO. 64114
816/943-2160 (voice)

VA Medical Center
Library Service (142D)
4801 Linwood Blvd.
Kansas City, MO. 64128
816/922-2315 (voice)

Liberty Hospital
Health Resource Center
2525 Glenn Hendren Drive
Liberty, MO. 64068
816/415-7778 (voice)

Consumer Health Information Databases

Available from UMKC

• Alt HealthWatch (EBSCOHost) 1990 - present.
  Full text 1990 - present; coverage varies by title.     Save to del.icio.us
• Health Source - Consumer Edition (EBSCOhost) 1984 - present.     Save to del.icio.us
  Full text 1984 - present
• Micromedex Drug Leaflets and Alt Med Leaflets (in the Health Sciences Library only)