Jan 12th,
Drug Information Centre Service
Introduction to DIC
“Drug information is an Unbiased, well referred, critically
evaluated up to date information on any aspect of drug”. The
first formalized DIC, established in 1962 at the University of
Kentucky, served as a prototype for other institutions.
Function of Drug Information Center is to provide a system
for the organization and dissemination of drug information
(Francke 1965).Access to clinically relevant, up-to-date, user-
specific, independent, objective, and unbiased drug
information is essential for appropriate drug use. Prescribers,
dispensers, and users of medicines all need objective
information. A health care system can provide access to the
highest- quality medicines, but if those medicines are not
properly used, they may have negligible benefits or even
adverse effects. Although access to good drug information
does not guarantee appropriate drug use, it is certainly a basic
requirement for rational drug use decisions.
Functions of DIC
• Pharmacy & Therapeutics committee: This Committee
formulates and reviews policies regarding the selection,
intra-hospital distribution, storage, and safe use and
administration of drugs within the Hospital.
• Drug Usage Review (DUR)/ Evaluation
• Adverse Drug Reporting program
• Investigational Drug program
• Education and training
• Publication (Newsletter, bulletins, journals)
• Community Services
• 5Rs – Right drug, Right dose, Right dosage form, Right
route and Right Patient.
• Drug Interaction
• Availability/ Substitute
• Drug identification
• Formulary decision
• Compatibility
• Toxicity & poisoning
• Drugs in pregnancy & lactation.
Types of DICs
CLINICAL PHARMACY ASSIGNMENT. Roll nos. 21-30, MBA Pharm. Tech. 4th year, SPTM, NMIMS
2010
Also classified based on types of activities offered, space
available, budget, staff, resources.
Sources of drug information
Primary sources: Are the foundation on which all other drug
information is based. Evaluating primary literature is
difficult. The most reliable evidence comes from reports on
randomized controlled trials. Proper evaluation of these trials
requires considerable experience, and systematic reviews of
combined trials (meta-analyses) may be necessary.
• Medical and therapeutic journals – eg. New England
journal of medicine.
• Drugs and toxicology information and pharmacology
journals – eg. European journal of clinical pharmacology.
• Pharmacy journals – eg. Annals of pharmacotherapy
Secondary information resource: Are essentially derivations
of the primary literature. Examples of such services include
Medline, Current Contents, and International Pharmaceutical
Abstracts
Tertiary references, written by individuals or groups, are
often developed with the input of consultant reviewers and
may be widely peer reviewed. Eg. Essential drug list and
therapeutic formularies DIC in India
Manufacturers' Promotional Information Drug information • Increasing patient load on doctors
provided by manufacturers is secondary or tertiary • Mostly present in pharma industry which provide info
information. The type and quality of information provided by about specific company products
drug manufacturers vary considerably from country to • Lack of unbiased information centres
country, depending on governments' regulations and ability to Features influencing DIC in India:
enforce them. 1. Growth of clinical pharmacy education and practice
2. Growth of information technology
3. Focus on EBM
Enquiries at Shionogi DIC, Japan 4. Complexity of drug use
5. Patient awareness
• Edu inst. DIC: eg. Hindu Pharmacy, Goa
• Independent DIC: eg. DIC, MSPC, Maharashtra
• Hospital attached DIC: eg. Poison Info. Center,
AIIMS
Conclusion
1.Drug information center is one of the essential services of
health care professionals
2.Providing Drug information services is necessary for the
survival of the pharmacy profession
3.Drug Information Services help in effective and efficient
drug therapy and consequently a better patient care will be
achieved
4.Dissemination of information is still a problematic and
pharmacists should coordinate and work towards that goal.