Physicians' Desk Reference - Controversies With The PDR

Controversies With The PDR

Originally distributed as a promotional item, the PDR has come under recent scrutiny with the lack of reporting of updated and accurate drug dosages along with adverse drug effects. Often dosage information can be taken from phase 1 trial information where clinical drug information is incomplete, resulting in higher PDR-recommended dosages than therapeutically effective dosages for many medications. And since most of the information is taken from drug data sheets generated by drug manufacturers, it is more likely to not include drug studies reporting the worst side-effect and adverse effect data. This is opposed to evidence-based medicine or clinical reviewed material which examines all such data but is not contained within the PDR.

The PDR has also been criticized for its being paid for by the various pharmaceutical manufacturers that present mediciations within its pages. This criticism stems from the lack of special interest disclosure and the potential for guiding medical recommendations apart from evidence-based medicine The lack of medical editorial capacity within the PDR which is standard in the review of all scientific literature by informed scientific peers has also been criticized.

While proponents may argue that the controversies with the PDR may seem insignificant, critics allege that in fact, most physicians and pharmacists rely on it in a bound, online or PDA version for drug dosaging and the lack of transparency in its formation most certainly leads to adverse patient outcomes.