For Immediate Release
Contact:
John M. Martino
Phone Number: (215) 895-1186
Date: 06/02/01
DRUG
INFORMATION ON THE WEB CAN BE HELPFUL AND HARMFUL
More
and more consumers and health professionals are utilizing
the Internet to seek information on prescription drugs. According
to Mignon Adams, director of library and information services
at University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, the challenge
is not finding accurate information, but finding complete
information that is unbiased. "In this country, pharmaceutics
is one of the largest industries," says Adams, "and
to keep financially healthy, companies need to push their
products, sometimes through direct advertisement to consumers."
Adams
says there are several "prescribing information"
sites that are helpful and easy to navigate, including Druginfonet
(www.druginfonet.com/drug.htm),
the Federal Drug Administration site (www.fda.gov/),
and Scholz Healthcare (www.ditonline.com/monograph/index.html),
a site where you can search for either the generic or brand
name of a drug and be linked directly to the site of the drug
manufacturer. There are other sites that provide information
that is not written by manufacturers, and therefore are considered
to be less biased and are often much more clearly written.
Some of these sites include Rxlist (www.rxlist.com), Drug
Facts and Comparison (www.drugfacts.com),
and the People's Pharmacy (www.healthcentral.com/peoplespharmacy/peoplespharmacy.cfm).
Websites
about herbals medicines, minerals, and vitamins are huge areas
of concern, according to Adams.
"Websites
that promote natural products are generally
inaccurate, filled with anecdotal claims and personal
testimony," says Adams. "The worst websites you
can find revolve around natural products, because their claims
are so outrageous. They take advantage of people's illnesses.
Consumers suffering from diseases and other ailments who could
be treated effectively in traditional ways are persuaded by
these websites to use supplements that have not been proven
to work. They only give people false hope."
So
how can consumers distinguish whether a website is good or
bad? Adams says one way is to locate sites that have The Health
on the Net Foundation Code of Conduct (HONcode). The HONcode
symbol alerts consumers that a health website has chosen to
abide by basic ethical standards in the presentation of information.
Adams adds that some websites that do not have the HONcode
are also good, but consumers always have to be cautious of
any information that is not supported by.references to the
clinical literature.
"Consumers
have to ask themselves who is distributing the information
and why," says Adams. "They need to know a web site's
bias, whether it's a non-profit organization, like the American
Heart Association, or a large pharmaceutical company, like
Merck. Consumers should always go to health websites whose
claims are backed up with references to evidence."
To
arrange an interview, contact John M. Martino at (215) 895-1186.
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