Medication Information on CIAP

Items marked with an * are recommended starting points.

General Information on Drugs

• MIMs *
• Micromedex *
• The Australian Medicines Handbook *
• Martindale
• American Hospital Formulary Service (AHFS)
• Goodman and Gilman’s Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics
• Basic and Clinical Pharmacology, Katzung
• Drug Facts and Comparisons, Pocket version

In-Depth Information on Drugs

• Micromedex *
• Martindale
• American Hospital Formulary Service (AHFS)
• Embase and Medline searches
• NSW Medicines Information Centre
• Hunter Drug Information Service

Therapeutic Choice

• The Australian Medicines Handbook *
• The Therapeutic Guidelines series *
• The National Prescribing Service (NPS)
• The New South Wales Therapeutic Advisory Group (NSW TAG)
• Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine

Evidence-Based Information

• The Australian Medicines Handbook *
• The Therapeutic Guidelines *
• The Cochrane Library *
• The National Prescribing Service (NPS)
• Natural Medicines Database (on herbal and complementary medicines)

Also see the resources under the ‘Evidence Based Practice’ on the LEFT HAND MENU

Complementary & Alternative Medicines

• Natural Medicines Database *
• Martindale
• Medline or Embase searches
• NSW Medicines Information Centre

Nursing Drug Resources

General information on drugs plus nursing considerations

• Nursing Consult
• Lippincott’s Nursing Drug Guide
• Saunders Nursing Drug Handbook
• Intravenous Medications: A Handbook for Nurses & Allied Health Professionals

Drug Interactions

Check general drug resources.

To automatically check for interactions in a list of medications:

• DrugReax (via Micromedex) *
• MIMs Drug Alert *

Contact your local hospital pharmacy department or the NSW MIC

IV Drug Use & Compatibility

• The Australian Injectable Drugs Handbook *
• MIMs
• IV Index (via Micromedex)

For more information contact your local hospital pharmacy department or the NSW MIC

Guidelines

• Therapeutic Guidelines series *
• CI-SCaT (Cancer Institute NSW Standard Cancer Treatments) *
• Australian Resuscitation Guidelines
• Eye Emergency Manual
• Rural Emergency Guidelines - Adult, Paediatric
• Paediatric Clinical Practice Guidelines
• Paracetamol Overdose Guidelines
• Snake and Spider Bite Guidelines

Also check the links to the Policy Directives, Guidelines etc from the DOH and the NHS Guideline Finder

Cancer Drug Resources

• CI-SCaT (Cancer Institute NSW Standard Cancer Treatments) *
• Cancer Chemotherapy & Biotherapy: Principles & Practices
• Chemotherapy Source Book

Specialised Information

• The Australian Immunisation Handbook
• Snake and Spider Bite Guidelines
• Australian Resuscitation Council Guidelines
• Paediatric Pharmacopoeia
• Children’s Hospital at Westmead Handbook

Some websites have information on drugs (see the links under Specialty Sites tab)

New, Unmarked or Trial Drugs

• Micromedex *
• Martindale
• American Hospital Formulary Service (AHFS)
• Embase and Medline searches

Your local hospital Pharmacy Department may have information on SAS and trial drugs in use in your hospital, or contact the NSW Medicines Information Centre.

PDA Resources

• MIMS on PDA
• pAMH (Australian Medicines Handbook)
• Micromedex

NOTE: Many of the books on CIAP contain useful information on drugs and their use. Use the subject index to locate books on particular specialties e.g. toxicology, cardiology etc

American Hospital Formulary Service (AHFS)

• Leading US resource with monographs on drugs
• Completely updated annually
• Detailed information on adverse effects

Basic and Clinical Pharmacology, Katzung

• Pharmacology text aimed at health science students

CI-SCaT (Cancer Institute - NSW Standard Cancer Treatments)

• Provides chemotherapy cancer protocols, including the evidence, cost, and drug dose calculation.
• Also contains detailed information on cancer treatments and side-effects.

Drug Facts and Comparisons, Pocket version

• Brief information arranged by use
• Comparative information and tables
• Only covers US FDA-approved indications

DrugReax (via Micromedex)

• Displays drug-drug, drug-lab test, drug-food, drug-pregnancy, drug-lactation and drug-alcohol interactions.
• Gives severity and evidence ratings
• May not recognise non-US trade and generic names e.g. enter ‘acetaminophen’ for paracetamol; enter ‘epinephrine’ for adrenaline; enter ‘meperidine’ for pethidine; enter ‘sulfamethizole’ for sulphamethazole etc.
• Click on the drug names for detailed information with references on each interaction

Goodman and Gilman’s Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics

• Major pharmacology reference text

Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine

• Major medical text which contains information on drug treatments

IV Index (via Micromedex)

• Compatibility information for single drugs or drug combinations (searchable)
• May not include or recognise Australian drug names

Martindale

• Leading UK resource with monographs on drugs
• Includes information on products marketed in UK and the EEU

Micromedex

• Contains in-depth information on drugs (DrugDex monographs)
• Covers adverse effects, dose, comparative information, pharmacokinetics, dosage and information on specific uses etc
• Poisindex is a toxicology (poisoning) database within Micromedex
• Available for PDA download

MIMs

• Approved Product Information for all marketed drugs in Australia
• MIMs Drug Alert is a drug interaction program
• Available for PDA download

MIMs Drug Alert

• Gives severity and evidence ratings
• Recognises Australian trade and generic names
• Available for PDA download

The Australian Injectable Drugs Handbook

• Information on dose, rate, dilution, compatibility and stability of injectable
• Monograph-based

The Australian Medicines Handbook

• Australian evidence- and expert opinion- based information
• Contains comparative information and practical advice on drug use
• Available for PDA download

The National Prescribing Service (NPS)

• Independent, Australian evidence- based information on prescribing
• Advice on drug use for specific indications
• NPS RADAR contains assessments of new drugs and indications

The New South Wales Medicines Information Centre (NSW MIC)

• A free information service on all aspects of medication use
• Maintains an library of resources on pharmacology & clinical pharmacy

The New South Wales Therapeutic Advisory Group (NSW TAG)

• Peer-reviewed, evidence-based information
• Information on high cost or controversial therapies (see Position Statements)
• Targeted literature reviews (on new or controversial therapies)

The Therapeutic Guidelines series

• Australian evidence- and expert opinion- based guidelines
• Advice on drug use for specific indications
• Published as separate titles by medical specialty: Analgesic, Antibiotic, Cardiovascular, Dermatology, Developmental Disability, Emergency, Endocrinology, Gastrointestinal, Neurology, Oral and Dental, Palliative Care, Psychotropic, Respiratory, Rheumatology, Toxicology & Wilderness
• Search all the Guidelines or individual titles

PDA Resources

MIMS and MIMS DrugAlert

• Updated monthly

pAHM (Australian Medicines Handbook)

• Updated twice a year.

Micromedex

• Updated Quarterly

Your local hospital pharmacy department can assist with information on medicines and may hold specialist texts and journals not available on CIAP.

The NSW Medicines Information Centre offer a free service which provides information on all aspects of medication use. They may be contacted by phone or email or via the links under ‘Other Drug Resources’ from the left hand menu.

NOTE: Many of the books on CIAP contain useful information on drugs and their use. Use the subject index to locate books on particular specialties e.g. toxicology, cardiology etc

You can also contact CIAP ...

• Use our feedback page
• or, phone the CIAP Helpdesk on 1800 8-CIAP-9 (1800 824 279)