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Ahfs Drug Information

AHFS Drug Information 2001. Bethesda MD: American Society ofHealth-System Pharmacists, Inc., 2001. xviii+ 3720, $159.95 (paperback).

Beginning in 1959 as the Formulary Service, the "Hospital Formulary" is updated annually by the American Society of HealthSystem Pharmacists. Printed updates/supplements are provided during the year and subscribers may request more frequent updates via FAX. AHFS Drug Information 2001, (AHFS) is the 44th edition of this widely acclaimed drug information resource. Although print and electronic formats are available, the focus of this review is on the print version.

The AHFS contains a collection of in-depth drug monographs for virtually all single-ingredient products marketed in the United States. The monographs are written by a professional staff, and incorporate comments from approximately 500 outside expert reviewers. Due to the exhaustive review by outside reviewers, it is safe to say that the AHFS is an unbiased and extensive source of drug information. The monographs contain information gleaned from the primary literature, FDA-approved labeling, the manufacturers) of the specific products, as well as from recommendations promulgated by such bodies as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Heart Association, the American Thoracic Society, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Rheumatology, and the American Psychiatric Association. Included products are reviewed and revised each year if necessary. According to the publisher, more than 1000 such revisions were made from the 2000 edition. The current edition has 160 pages of new content. AHFS is a reference text; it is not intended to be read cover-to-cover.

The AHFS is simple to use. Medications are listed alphabetically in the index by proprietary (trade) name, nonproprietary (generic) name, synonyms (e.g., British Approved Name), common abbreviation (e.g., INH for isoniazid), and former name (e.g., diphenylhydantoin for phenytoin). The products are arranged in chapters, classified using the AHFS Pharmacologic-Therapeutic Classification. Each monograph is arranged in an identical format, and includes information on chemistry, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, cautions, toxicities, drug interactions, laboratory test interferences, uses (both FDAapproved and non-FDA-approved), dosage and administration, and commercially available preparations. At the conclusion of each monograph is the date of revision.

The AHFS is a classic source of drug information used by health care professionals and students alike. It is one of the most common sources one will find in a hospital or other health care system, a drug information center, or in the personal library of any individual who needs high quality information about medications. Nevertheless, there are some drawbacks. The text contains more than 3700 pages but does not contain references - probably due to the shear size of the source. (Specific reference citations may be obtained by contacting ASHP.) Although understandable, it is not ideal to provide information to a practitioner without having an opportunity to review the primary source. Also, as the number of new medications and the information we have about older medications grow, the print version of the AHFS is becoming unwieldy. As technology improves in health care systems it is probable that a referenced CD-ROM or on-line version will replace the text, and as the use of personal digital assistants grows, more individual subscribers probably will use an electronic format. In the meantime, the text version will never gather dust on a shelf - it will be used often and continuously.

Harold L. Kirschenbaum

Long Island University

Copyright American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Winter 2001
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