E-drug: Advertising in national formularies (cont)
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I am not in a position to comment on the contents of the PDR but I would
like to offer some comments about its Canadian equivalent, the
Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties (CPS). The CPS is
composed of monographs that are abbreviated versions of documents
that have been approved by the Canadian drug regulatory authority.
For newer products the information is relatively complete but this is
not
necessarily the case for older products. There is no requirement for
manufacturers or the regulatory body to keep these documents current
unless the company has received approval for a new indication or unless
there are new safety concerns. Therefore, a product such as digoxin
does not contain any dosing instructions for elderly patients.
Monographs for different NSAIDs contain different levels of information
depending on when the NSAID was approved. The CPS lists and has
information about irrational cough and cold mixtures (drugs that combine
expectorants and cough suppressants; drugs that contain decongestants
and antihistamines) without any indication that these mixtures are
irrational. Another significant weakness of all of these compendia,
including the PDR, is that they do not give any comparative drug
information.
--
Joel Lexchin MD
121 Walmer Rd.
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M5R 2X8
T: +416-964-7186
F: +416-923-9515
e mail: joel.lexchin@utoronto.ca
--
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