Good Reading

[ForgeCorvus]

FDA

Isn't that Federal drugs administration or something?

Correct

If it's a US book it is possible
a) some drugs not used in the UK

Possible

b) different names

The active agent will only have one name (I think) but the brand name could be anything

Or am I being a bit thick?

No, you're thinking the same thing I did

Problem is I (as a layman) don't know of any comparible UK reference...... Do we have any Medical peeps who could suggest something ?

[Decaff]

I know we had one of these at work but not sure if was UK or USA one. Not there anymore so I can't check. Next doctors visit you have would be worth asking for the ISBN number of the copy your doctor uses.

[Decaff]

Just looked on Google and its called

British National Formulary ISBN 978-0-85711-086-2 March 2014 edition 67 is the current version. Next version September.

There is a separate version for children ISBN 978-0-85711-087-9 updated yearly.

Hope this helps.

[Medicine Man]

The British National Formulary (BNF) is the best drug book you can get in the UK.

You can sometimes pick up free copies from Doctors and Chemists as they always use the most recent one and old ones are often discarded.
Worth asking they often will give them away if you say your a student on some related health course such as Nursing.

I occasionally get a batch to dispose of but this has happened recently with new edition so wont have any more for a while.

[ForgeCorvus]

Thanks...... Just did an Ebay search ( This is one), they seem to be about 20 notes

[Appin]

The British National Formulary is the standard UK drug reference. it includes basic management of certain common conditions as wellas a few oddities ( EG poisoning and snakebite.)

Known to all in hospital as the BNF. Getting hold of a copy can be a problem as most hospitals now have it online as this is cheaper.

For a lot of information the NHS has centrally organised support EG TOXBASE and Poisons information but they won't talk to the public.

You can see it online at http://www.bnf.org/bnf/index.htm I am not certain about registration for free access but it seems ot be open to anyone with a UK server or a server in a HINARI country ( http://www.who.int/hinari/en/)

It is updated every 6 months so a slightly out of date copy is still useful ( Beware the smartphone version that locks up when out of date).

The physicians desk reference is not used at all in the UK.

Regards

Appin

[DKR]

FDA

Isn't that Federal drugs administration or something?

If it's a US book it is possible
a) some drugs not used in the UK
b) different names

Or am I being a bit thick?

No.
There is the electronic version of the Martindale textbook published by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. Offers extensive information on international drug products. Especially useful when searching for European drugs, and can be searched by brand name or generic name.

The NIH (A US Govt outfit) has a good web page with links
http://nihlibrary.nih.gov/researchtools ... ation.aspx

this includes books which cover EU zone drugs.

Paracetamol or acetaminophen -- is the same drug no matter where produced (if made to standards). The PDR covers this example, but the difference in names can be problematic. Good point. The PDR still covers over 1,116 of the most commonly prescribed drugs, I'll bet a lot of them are used by the NHS.

[Stasher]

THANKS EVERYONE!