Vicki Killion vkillion@purdue.edu
Selective List of Consumer Health Resources
"Top Sites"
Medical Library Association (MLA):
MLA Consumer and Patient Health Information Section (CAPHIS):
Dictionaries, Encyclopedias
Pharma-lexicon - a dictionary of pharmaceutical medicine
Dr. Koop's Medical Encyclopedia
Consumer Health sites (listed in no particular order)
Indiana University Ruth Lilly Medical Library
University of Kentucky Medical Center Library
Federal Consumer Information Center
PDRnet - The Physicians Desk Reference (PDR) is a fee-based compilation of the FDA approved information of the top selling prescription drugs - information generally free of charge by going directly to the manufacturers sites. However, there is a link to a consumer health site: http://www.gettingwell.com/
Drug Information
Scholz Healthcare - visitors can search for the generic or brand name of a drug and be linked directly to the drug manufacturer's site and the product package insert (PPI).
DRUGFACTS.com - an abridged version of Drug Facts and Comparisons, a major resource known generally only to pharmacists. Users may register and access the abridged version free of charge; access to the complete version is by subscription only.
USP DI - Drug Information for the Patient - available many places on the web, the simplest access is through the National Library of Medicine's MedlinePlus. Includes many commonly used over-the-counter drugs.
Clinical trials
AEGIS Clinical Trials Knowledgebase - from the National Library of Medicine - describes clinical trials, lists current trials
Drug development and approval - chart and brief description outlining the drug development and clinical trial process
ClinicalTrials - current information on clinical trials
Centerwatch - information source for the clinical trials industry
Herbal or natural products
HerbMed - summaries of published studies done with commonly used botanicals; links to the articles' abstracts in PubMed and to FDA's adverse events reports
Longwood Herbal Task Force - collaboration between Boston's Children's Hospital, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Science, and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Lengthy descriptions with links to scientific evidence and to leaflets for clinicians and patients.
Consumerlabs - many commercial herbal products contain very little of the active ingredient. Consumerlabs provide some of their test results for nonsubscribers.
A Mini-course in medical botany - for those who want to learn about natural products from one of the gurus on herbal use, James A. Duke.
Alternative medicine
Alternative & Complementary Medicine Center - extensive resources for the most common types of alternative medicine.
Alternative Medicine: Health Care Information Resources - a meta-site for alternative medicine created by the McMaster University Health Sciences Library.
Alternative Medicine Homepage - an exhaustive list of alternative medicine websites sponsored by the Falk Library of the Health Sciences, University of Pittsburgh.
Complementary and Alternative Veterinary Medicine - a commercial site created by veterinarians for our "best friends."