Ebook: Handbook of Clinical Drug Data

I can see that the last edition of this book received poor reviews (even if the sample size was miniscule). But I can say that this has been the most helpful drug reference that a clinician can have, particularly if they are in a position where they are looked at to offer expertise on how to manage drug therapy. The sections on Patient Instructions, Adverse Reactions and monitoring parameters are especially useful, as are the notes and drug class charts.

What makes this such an incredible reference - particularly while participating on rounds - is how concise and informative it is, while putting each monograph into the context of what information is most helpful to your choice of agent and how to manage it. You are not only provided with information that is pertinent to the specific drug, but with information that contextualizes its proper use within each therapeutic category. Some bumpkin in the last edition's comments complained that patients are not prescribed classes of drugs, but individual drugs. That makes me curious as to how he decides to go with one medication over any other in that class. And I can only hope his criteria are as objective, concise and informative as this guide. That's a hard combination of demands to achieve, and yet Handbook of Clinical Drug Data pulls it off admirably, in my estimation.

I'll wait until the newest edition comes out this April to purchase another copy for work. I hope it continues in the tradition of the previous two, and best of luck to the publisher. In a field that is as information-rich as it is constantly changing, Handbook of Clinical Drug Data definitely stands out and deserves recognition among the available guides and texts. There is no better pocket guidebook for a clinical pharmacist to use and I would advise any pharmacy student, both those whom I regularly precept and any others, to set aside their on-line or paperback editions of Lexi-Comp for at least a few months and pick up a copy of this.