Pharmacy Books

Drake/Drake "Pharmaceutical Word Book" is one of the greatest drug references for medical transcriptionists. This easy-to-use guide is superb for those unfamiliar with which (brand-named) drugs require capitalization and which (generic) do not, the names of most available herbal medications (certainly used by more patients now than in the last few generations), and even lists experimental/investigational medications. Since I do primarily imaging transcription, I find it especially handy for nuclear medicine drugs used in my work, such as 99mTc (33 types of technetium isotopes alone listed here).

Four appendixes complete this nearly 700-page book: one involving sound-alike drugs, another of useful abbreviations and dosages, a third of therapeutic drug levels, and a fourth containing the most widely prescribed drugs.

Handy, concise, and used daily by all with whom I work, I highly recommend this great little book for any medical transcriptionist who transcribes medications.

As has been for years, this is a must for the medical transcriptionist. Comprehensive drug listings including generics but a very compact easy-to-use book. I could not work without it. The best I have ever found.

As a medical transcriptionist, knowing the correct spellings and dosages of current medications is a must. The 2000 edition is one of the most handy reference books to have for easy look up and comprehension. Saunders hasn't let me down yet !

I am a Medical Transcriptionist and I just love this book. It is more informative than the others. We actually fight over this book at work! Its great for information on any drug there is! Its better than the PDR hands down. It has everything you need to know and the price is just right!

As a medical editor I am always looking for new references, and I found this book to be very useful. It provides the trade and generic names of drugs as well as the common and Latin names of herbal remedies. It also lists the indications for use, the approving agencies, and dosage information. Its small size and use of shorthand and abbreviations (clearly explained at the outset) make it much easier to use for quick spelling/style/information checking than the large, heavy Physician's Desk Reference (PDR).

I believe most editors will find the information on herbals to be the most useful, however, because as the market for alternative and complementary treatments expands, more and more authors are writing about the use of these remedies. Most reference books are not current enough to keep up with this trend, and thus a great deal of editing time can be wasted on searching for the proper spelling, genus & species name, or indications of a given herbal. This book provides all of this information in a short dictionary-style entry.

Overall, this book is very well organized and comprehensive but small in size and thus makes a great reference to keep by your desk.

This book is easy to read and has a lot of good info about many different issues that may arise in dealing with a patient who needs mental health medications.
Some of the info is known to a good provider but it also serves as a good reminder and it includes some sample appropriate conversation to use when dealing with patients - even difficult patients.

Dr. Doran covers the basics as well as some of the fine points of prescribing psychotropic medication. The book is very reader friendly and is a must have for anyone prescribing in mental health treatment.

I am new to the field of psychiatry and I found this book to be incredibly comprehensive, practical, and informative. As someone new to prescribing, I envision using much of Dr. Doran's information as a foundation to my practice.

This concise, well written guide to prescribing mental health medication is as helpful to me, a Family Nurse Practitioner who works in a low-income community health center, as it would be to a specialist working in private practice. All medical professionals are encountering more patients with mental health diagnoses and many of them require pharmacotherapy. I found this book to be very helpful in my primary care practice and encourage my colleagues and other prescribers to purchase it for their own reference collections.

Prescribing Mental Health Medication - The Practitioner's Guide provides essential, practical and accessible information on how to prescribe and manage psychiatric medication. The layout and format of the book includes clinical tips, practice strategies and sample "scripts" for talking with clients. While there are several psychopharmacology drug guides, this reference book actually details both the conceptual and practical processes involved in prescribing psychotropic medication.

There are several comprehensive tables and mental health practice tools for medication management included with the text. Parts of the book that were especially useful and salient to every day situations included: Medicating Special Populations (children & adolescents, pregnant women, older patients), and Competent Clinical Practice (generic meds, telephone/email considerations, recordkeeping, keeping current). Several chapters also provided clear and comprehensive yet concise information on what can be complicated issues; these included the chapters on myths & truths, danger zones, starting, monitoring & stopping medication and side effects - (the author does an excellent job detailing how managing side effects is the hallmark of a knowledgeable and successful mental health practitioner).

The clinical gems offered by the author from his years of experience are outstanding and have already made a difference in my practice.

This book is extensively reasearched, and a very balanced work on what goes on in the medical field. Literally a lifesaving book...if hazards are listed on the package labeling, the consumer is held to be informed about side effects of the medication...Mr. Moore explains the dangers of prescription drugs, how to decode the package insert, and does so in a very readable format. I am sorry that the rest of his books seem to be out of print.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone concerned about the safety of the drugs they use. This book had two important messages for me, first, that I need to take control of my own use of prescription, and over the counter, medications and be sure that I know their strengths and weaknesses. And to be watchful for adverse side effects and drug interactions. And second, that this country's drug safety program is woefully inadequate and ill equipped to deal with the harm that drugs can cause, even when used properly and under the care of a physician. I have read Mr. Moore's previous books and I have found him to be right on the mark and a step ahead of the pack, watch for drug safety to become a big issue.

This is a great book about prescription medicines and the people who make billions of dollars pushing these drugs at the public. Thomas J. Moore is qualified to write on this issue. He has spent six years researching and writing about the safety of prescription drugs as a senior fellow in health policy at the George Washington University Medical Center.

This book was written in 1998. However, almost all of the information in the book is still relevent. Most of the problems identified in the book have not been resolved and some are even worse. For a similar book on this subject released in 2004, see my review on "Overdosed America: The Broken Promise Of American Medicine" by John Abramson.

You will learn about many amazing facts in "Prescription For Disaster." I will list some of them for you. Be sure to read the book to learn about all of the issues involved.

1. You are about ten times more likely to be hospitalized by a side affect of a prescription drug than by an automobile accident.
2. Many doctors do not tell patients about the adverse effects of the medicines that they prescribe.
3. Almost half of medicines prescribed caused cancer in animals, often at or near the human dose.
4. Learn about how one extra tablet of a medicine for hives killed the patient.
5. Of the top 50 prescribed drugs, 7 can cause addiction, 18 have cancer risks, 18 are unusually toxic and 25 have cardiac risks.

Rx for Disaster documents the potential good as well as the side effects & harmful drug interactions of many of the newer legitimate designer pharmaceuticals. If you are interested in improving your understanding and taking control of the Rx medications prescribed for you, this book is a must. It is well written and factual by Thomas J. Moore, an experienced medical researcher. The book provides insight and understanding, as well as a road map for learning about the Rx medication that you are taking. You can better interact with your doctor and pharmacist after you have read this book.

Utterly accurate, mild in tone, this book sets out in simple language (backed up by solid citations to peer-reviewed journals) how those of us with some intelligence can minimize the damage from prescription drugs.
From p179: "One wonders how the drug industry could be surprised that the consumer information plan focused 'on the hazards that drugs may present.' This was exactly the information being denied to consumers. Evidence that the real goal of the PhRMA and the AMA was to continue to keep consumers in the dark could be seen..."

On the rare occassion I cannot find the drug in the Quick Look book I can find it quickly in the Saunders book.

This Word Book is WONDERFUL, and definitely should be with anyone doing medical transcription! The format makes it very easy to locate drug names, and even note briefly what the drug is used for.

At tne back of the book are some helpful areas, i.e. "most prescribed drugs", "therapeutic drug levels", "sound-alikes" and MORE! If you do NOT have this book in your library, you need to order it immediately!

This book has everything. I know that after I check my other resources, the internet, and this book, then the drug will not be found with the description provided and I know I can leave a blank without fear of being accused of doing an incomplete job. Other transcriptionists that I have worked with highly recommended this book before I bought it so I already knew I was getting the best. I cannot wait until the 2007 version comes out on CD ROM.

It's very helpful in looking for drug names, whether they are generic or brand names. It is the best pharmaceutical book I have found so far.

As a medical transcriptionist, this is one of my favorite reference books. I get an updated Saunders Pharmaceutical Word Book every few years. I work from home and have a full reference library in my home office. I can't transport them all, of course; but this one comes back and forth with me if I ever have to work from the hospital location.

I've always kept a shirt-pocket pharmacopoeia in my lab pocket, but this deluxe version offers much more...I'm very pleased with it!

Tarascon Pocket Pharmacopoeia 2008 Deluxe Lab-coat Pocket Edition: Deluxe Lab-coat Pocket Edition (Tarascon Pocket Pharmacopoeia) (Tarascon Pocket Pharmacopoeia)

I've been a practicing internist for more than 10 years. Although much of my practice and reference materials are on computer, nothing can take the place of my Tarascon Pharmacopoeia. It is an absolute must for not only medical students and residents, but all those in primary care. I call it my "drug brain" and I feel lost without it.

Very handy to use on the run. Started using these over a decade ago, and still beats a PDA for my purposes.

This is very useful book. Every year I gift this book to the referring physicians.

That's a great book, it has all essential data that a a medical student/Intern/Resident is expected to know (or to "carry everywhere"). This is like a small pharmacological memory chip that's always in my shirt pocket. It often helped me to save patients' life right in that moment, before I can find any other larger reference books around... So, just get it!
(Warning: this book has a kind of addicting potential - once you use it, you are gonna use it daily).

This is THE most essential, and most used book I own. I get a new one every year because it's so worn out by the end of a year from the use.

A friend and I were talking about this book. "Obviously," he said, "it was written by a clinician." This is extremely high praise.

I discovered this book several years ago. Now, I don't go to work without it. I can look up any drug in the world within seconds (the index helpfully tells you whether the listing is at the top, middle or bottom of the page) and find out basically everything I need to know: what class of drug, what it's used for in clinical practice, how it's metabolized, can you give it to pregnant women, can you give it to breastfeeding women, what's the relative cost, what's the usual dosage and route, what's the DEA classification . . . and also read a sentence or two along the lines of "One or two things you should know about this drug:" for example, terazosin: "First dose at bedtime to avoid orthostatic hypotension."

To compress the entire PDR into 127 pages that fit into your shirt pocket is a truly impressive work of scholarship. Saunders comes in a close second, and the Washington Manual a distant third. The Tarascon Pocket Pharmacopoeia is, in my opinion, the most useful medical book ever published.

As an internal medicine resident this book is absolutly vital to my life and practice. In nearly three years I have not once gone to work without it in my pocket. The book is small enough to carry anywhere, well organized, full of useful information and contains every drug you will be perscribing on a regular basis. Whether you are a medical student or a resident, you need this book!

As a resident I have found this book to an invaluable tool for physicians, 3rd and 4th year medical students. It packs an incredible amount of information into such a small package. The book includes every medication, dosage, formulation you'll ever need. It includes a number of obscure drugs as well as off label indications, which come up quite often, not included in epocrates. I had to dig up this classic after being left high and dry by epocrates a number of times. There are a number of charts such as BSA, ACLS, safe drugs during pregnancy that are great as well. Overall this book is definitely worth the pocket space.

This is one of my favorite books. I think I have purchased one for every family member. It gives a comprehensive look at conventional medicine, herbal medicine and homeopathy. What is particularly nice is that it gives the pros and cons of each treatment. After just being at my wits end years ago with going to my regular doctor and being prescribed antibiotics for a recurring infection this book gave me the tools to treat the problem and 6 years later I have never had another problem with the infection again. I can't stress enough how helpful this book can be, especially in a day and age when the doctor prescribes so many medications you need additional medications to combat the side effects from one or the other.

I am very glad I have this book as part of my reference library. It has come in handy several times. Dr. Walker is great!!

I like this book because it paints a broad picture: covering traditional medicine and then offering alternatives in homeopathy, herbal and chinese medicine. This is one of the only books I have seen which covers such a broad scope of alternative medicines from different disciplines and countries.

I have read this book and would highly recommend this to anyone who is looking into aternatives for modern medicine! This is one of the best herbal remedy books I have read. It gives what modern medicine would do for the problem, then gives many different herbal remedies to try.

If you are studying for NAPLEX, I would totally recommend you get this book and work through all the questions. I also took the review course given by the authors and it was EXCELLENT. Hall and Reiss are great teachers who organized and tied up all the loose ends that my pharmacy professors could not.

I highly recommend this book -- it is the bible for the NAPLEX. The book by Leon Shargel is difficult to read and in too much detail. This IS the book to get for NAPLEX. If you need more background information for NAPLEX, I would also recommend you get the Drug cards (in small gray binder), Drug Information Handbook and Pharmacotherapy Handbook (HANDBOOK ONLY NOT anything else) by Dipiro et al. If you can, take the review course with Hall and Reiss, the authors -- it is worth the money and not only will it help you with NAPLEX but also shed light on a lot of points that are missed in pharmacy school. They zero in on what is important to know. Hope this helps and good luck!!

This book is an excellant sourse for NAPLEX preparation.I have seen all the other books.Among all it is the standard one.Get familiar with the basics, and follow this book to get good score.

This book is an excellent way to prepare for the NAPLEX exam. It is comprehensive, well written, and worth every penny. I took a live review course presented by the authors in Chicago and it was also super. I learned more in that course than I learned in 5 years of pharmacy school.

I HAVE GONE THRU THIS BOOK & SOLVED ALL THE Q&A 'S ITS AN EXCELLENT BOOK WITH NAPLEX TYPE QUESTIONS & THE ANS ARE EXPLAINED REALLY GOOD . THE BEST PART IS THE STUDY DISK WHICH HAS PATIENT PROFILES WHICH HELPS TO PREPARE FOR NEW NAPLEX. IT IS ALSO A VERY GOOD GUIDE FOR FOREIGN STUDENTS PREPARING FOR FPGEE. IT HAS ALMOST ALL TOPICS COVERED & I WOULD STRONGLY RECCOMMEND THIS BOOK FOR ALL STUDENTS PREPARING FOR NAPLEX EXAM.

Was recommended to me from a past co-worker-now a pharma rep. Great overview and way to brush up prior to interviewing. Fairly general, however still a good read.

I thought this book was great. It gave so many tips on how to be a great rep. I was so impressed with the way it was written. I read 3 of these types of books and this was the most superior.

This book was extremely helpful in me landing that awesome pharmaceutical sales job I desperately wanted. Many of the topics discussd in the book were helpful to me during the iterview process. Mr Frost does a fantastic job at telling you what the industry is all about from the beginning to the seasoned vet. I strongly urge you to buy this book if you want an edge over the competition for that perfect job. I also purchased other books but this one really summed things up.

This book, written by David Currier (with Jay Frost), is a superb introduction to the career of pharmaceutical selling. David is an experienced professional (having worked with both pharma and biotech, and now with medical devices), and his practical and positive perspectives are very helpful for someone just starting out.

The amount of information is just right, and what I appreciated most was the tone (or the "voice", as it would be expressed among medical writers) of the book. There was a realistic familiarity to the writing style, a personable approachability, so that the reader feels that the author is serving as a helpful mentor.

I kept asking myself, while reading, whether this volume would be most appropriate for someone seeking to break into the field, or a new rep trying to get underway. I finally decided that it was well-targeted for both. In fact, I have a friend looking to break into pharma sales and the next destination for this book is going to be his briefcase, tomorrow.

A very helpful element of the book is David's continual practice of defining terms - as we all know, the pharmaceutical industry is full of jargon, and I cannot think of a better introduction than this one to help a new arrival get familiar with the basic landscape. Also, one of the best training methods is storytelling, and the book is sprinkled with a number of helpful illustrations drawn from field experiences.

For any new, or hoping-to-be-new field sales rep - highly recommended.

This book higlights the out of control cost of US Medicines. Many people need somewhere to turn to in order to get their meds safely within their budget. Here is a great, safe place to order if you decide this is right for you:

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I found this Guide to be a comprehensive, un-biased, detailed resource on a life-threatening issue. Health care costs are a major social and political issue in the U.S. and the cost of prescription drugs is one of the major concerns. Millions of Americans, including many on Medicare, do not have insurance to pay for their drugs. So they need to look for the best price on the drugs they need.This book gives them that information. In very clear language, it helps them through the process of selecting a source and even ordering from Canadian pharmacies. I recommend it to hospital administrators, managers of senior citizen homes, corporate benefits staff, and to anyone who doesn't have prescription coverage.

I was given an advance copy of the book to review. I gave it to one of my co-workers who has a son who is taking an expensive medication. The son lost his group insurance with the loss of his job. He is too old to be a dependent of his parents and not realizing the value of COBRA, he failed to make the election. When he could not find another job and moved back home, his parents had to pay for more than food. Purchasing the drug was a serious financial drain on the family. By using this book they were able to discover a program through the drug manufacturer for which the son qualfied. Without the medication, the son probably would be unable to hold a full-time job.

Many people I know are on fixed incomes, and need life sustaining or saving drugs that are not availble in generic form and/or are prohibitively expensive in the U.S. Keating's book provides valuable and precise information concerning resources for people to be able to have access to their prescrition drugs, prescribed by their U.S. doctors, safely and with great savings by using Canadian online pharmacys. This book is a treasure trove of information for those most in need because of their struggle to find reasonably priced prescription drugs.