Evaluating Drug Literature

Smith GH, Norton LL, Ferrill MJ. Evaluating Drug Literature. Bethesda, MD American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Inc., 1995. This second module deals specifically with the skills necessary to evaluate drug literature. 

CA Walton, PM Mullins, AB Amerson. Drug literature utilization selection, evaluation and communication. In CW Blissitt, OL Webb, WF Stanaszek, eds. Clinical Pharmacy Practice. Philadelphia Lea Febiger, 1972, pp. 347-406. 

Ginsberg, G., D. Hattis, B. Sonawane, et al. 2002. Evaluation of child/adult pharmacokinetic differences from a database derived from the therapeutic drug literature. Toxicol. Sci. 66 185-200. 

Because of differences in pharmacokinetics in infants and children, simple proportionate reduction in the adult dose may not be adequate to determine a safe and effective pediatric dose. The most reliable pediatric dose information is usually that provided by the manufacturer in the package insert. However, such information is not available for the majority of products, even when studies have been published in the medical literature, reflecting the reluctance of manufacturers to label their products for children. Recently, the FDA has moved toward more explicit expectations that manufacturers test their new products in infants and children. Still, most drugs in the common formularies, eg, Physicians Desk Reference, are not specifically approved for children, in part because manufacturers often lack the economic incentive to evaluate drugs for use in the pediatric market. 

Evaluates the literature with regard to study design and methodology, statistical analysis, and significance of reported data so that appropriate assessments and conclusions may be applied to the solution of drug therapy problems. 

The ultimate research goal of transporter pharmacogenetics is to further our understanding of the ways in which transporter genetics influences clinical endpoints so that current drug treatment can be made safer and more efficacious, and investigational therapies can be better developed. The literature consists of a multitude of studies that have evaluated drug efficacy and toxicity and have... 

Tertiary publications, as described by Sewell [52] in Guide to Drug Information, are those publications that are the furthest removed from the literature of original research. The tertiary literature is a distillation and evaluation of data and information first presented in such primary literature sources as research reports, meeting presentations, and journal articles. Being furthest removed from the primary report, the tertiary literature characteristically is the least current and the most vulnerable to misinterpretations, biases, and inaccuracies. But just as characteristic, the tertiary literature is the most accessible, easiest to use, and perhaps the most used of all information resources. Information searches generally start with a perusal of... 

Polypharmacy is often a consequence of the cascade of problems. A literature review found that polypharmacy continues to increase and is a known risk factor for important morbidity and mortality (Hajjar et al. 2007). The reviewers states that many studies have found that various numbers of medications are associated with negative health outcomes, but more research is needed to further delineate the consequences associated with unnecessary drug use in elderly patients. Health care professionals should be aware of the risks and fully evaluate all medications at each patient visit to prevent polypharmacy from occurring . 

An evaluation of the various studies reported in the literature for preclinical assessment of drugs for nasal administrations indicated the usefulness of in situ, ex vivo, and in vivo approaches. Evidence from the literature also indicates that the choice of a particular model or animal species by different... 

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