National Medicines Information Centre

Sources of Medicines Information

NMIC Bulletins

Therapeutics Today Newsletters

General texts:

Note: It is essential to use the most recent edition of any publication

• British National Formulary (BNF)
• Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) via: IPHA Medicines Compendium (http://www.medicines.ie/) and/ or Irish Medicines Board (www.imb.ie)   
• Martindale: The Complete Drug Reference
• American Hospital Formulary Service Drug Information (AHFS)

Specialist texts:

Administration of Medicines:

• Handbook of Drug Administration via Enteral Feeding Tubes (Bradnam & White) (Pharmaceutical Press)
• The NEWT Guidelines (North East Wales NHS Trust) (Ed J Smyth)

Adverse Drug Reactions:

• Meyler's Side Effects of Drugs: The International Encyclopedia of Adverse Drug Reactions and Interactions (Ed J.K Aronson) (Elsevier)

Alternative/Herbal Medicinal Products:

• Herbal Medicines (Barnes et al.) (Pharmaceutical Press) 
• The Essential Guide to Herbal Safety (Mills & Bone) (Elsevier Churchill Livingstone)
• Herbal Companion to AHFS DI (American Society of Health-System Pharmacists)
• The Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database
• Stockley's Herbal Medicines Interactions (Eds Williamson E, Driver S, Baxter K) (Pharmaceutical Press)

Compatibility of medicines:

• Handbook on Injectable Drugs (Trissel) (American Society of Health-System Pharmacists)

Contraception:

• Contraception - your questions answered (Guillebaud) (Churchill Livingstone)
• Faculty of Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare of the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists UK(www.ffprhc.org.uk)

Drug Interactions: 

• Stockley's Drug Interactions (Ed. Stockley) (Pharmaceutical Press)
• Medscape Drug Interaction Checker (Online www.medscape.com) [free registration required]

Immunisation:

• Immunisation Guidelines for Ireland (Immunisation Advisory Committee, Royal College of Physicians of Ireland)
  (Online at www.immunisation.ie)

Liver Impairment:

• Drugs and the Liver (Ed. Penny North-Lewis) (Pharmaceutical Press)

Paediatrics: 

• BNF for Children (BNFC)
• Paediatric Formulary (Guy's, St. Thomas' & Lewisham Hospitals)
• Neonatal Formulary (The Northern Neonatal Network)

Palliative Care:

• Palliative Care Formulary (Twycross et al.) (Radcliffe Medical Press)
• A Guide to Symptom Relief in Palliative Care (Regnard & Hockley) (Radcliffe Medical Press)
• The Syringe Driver (Dickman et al.) (Oxford University Press)

Pregnancy &/or Lactation:

• Drugs in Pregnancy and Lactation (Briggs et al.) (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins)
• Prescribing in Pregnancy (Ed. P Rubin) (BMJ Books)
• Drugs during Pregnancy and Lactation (Ed. Ch. Schaefer) (Elsevier Science B.V.)
• Medications and Mothers' Milk (Hale) (Pharmasoft Publishing)
• Clinical Therapy in Breastfeeding Patients (Hale & Berens) (Pharmasoft Publishing)
• LactMed Lactation Database (US National Library of Medicine)

Psychiatry:

• The Maudsley Prescribing Guidelines (Taylor et al.) (Informa Healthcare)
• The Psychotropic Drug Directory (Bazire) (HealthComm UK)

Renal Impairment:

• The Renal Drug Handbook (Bunn & Ashley) (Radcliffe Medical Press) 
• Drug Prescribing in Renal Failure (Bennett et al.) (American College of Physicians)

Journals:

The NMIC has access to numerous medical and pharmaceutical journals.

Useful Links

[The NMIC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites]

CKS - Clinical Knowledge Summaries (UK) [free registration required]

Cochrane Library

DOHC - Department of Health & Children

EMA - European Medicines Agency

eMC - electronic Medicines Compendium (UK SmPCs)

Extemporaneous Database

FSRHC - Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (UK)

Free Medical Journals

HPAI - Hospital Pharmacists Association of Ireland

HPSC - Health Protection Surveillance Centre

HSE - Health Service Executive

IMB - Irish Medicines Board

Immunisation Guidelines

IPHA - Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association

IPU - Irish Pharmaceutical Union

ICGP - Irish College of General Practitioners

LactMed Lactation Database 

MedicinesComplete Database

Medscape Drug Interaction Checker

MHRA - Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency  (UK)

NCPE - National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics

NeLM - National electronic Library for Medicines

NICE - National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence

Palliative Care Formulary

Palliative Care Matters website

PSI - Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland

QT Drugs

SIGN - Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network