Recognizing the public's concern for good information about available medicines, the National Library of Medicine has enhanced its consumer health Web site, MEDLINEplus, with extensive information about more than 9,000 brand name and generic prescription and over-the-counter drugs. The site (at http://medlineplus.gov) gives information about side effects, dosing, drug interactions, precautions, and storage for each drug. Because the articles are intended for the use of patients, they are written in non-technical language.
The information is provided in MEDLINEplus through a special arrangement with the United States Pharmacopeia, located in Rockville, Maryland. Specifically, MEDLINEplus, now makes available the USP's Drug Information (USP DI), Volume II, "Advice for the Patient." The USP DI, one of the most authoritative sources for drug information in the United States, is now in its 20th edition. Because it is in such high demand, the "Drug Information" link is prominently featured on every page of MEDLINEplus.
MEDLINEplus links to authoritative information on nearly 400 health topics, and, although just 18 months old, this site is used by consumers and health professionals some 1.3 million times each month. MEDLINEplus also connects users to medical dictionaries, lists of doctors and hospitals, and "Health Topic" pages that have links to carefully selected resources on subjects such as diseases, fitness, and nutrition. In April, MEDLINEplus added the adam.com Medical Encyclopedia, which contains articles on health topics as well as an extensive collection of medical illustrations.
The National Library of Medicine, which is the world's largest library of the health sciences, is a part of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. The Library has an extensive Web site at http://www.nlm.nih.gov that provides a great variety of information for the general public and for health professionals. The site requires no registration and users are assured of complete privacy.