Comprehensive, Reliable Data on Drug-Alternative Therapy Interactions
Consumers in recent years have turned increasingly to alternative therapy agents such as herbals, dietary supplements and other homeopathic remedies to treat serious medical conditions. Unfortunately, when these products are taken in the wrong doses or in combination with pharmaceutical drugs, they can cause harmful interactions.
For this reason, First DataBank has integrated data on the most frequently purchased alternative-therapy products into our drug databases and clinical screening modules
Criteria for Including Alternative-Therapy Content
To be included in our drug databases, these products must meet strict criteria:
- They must have a unique identifier, price, ingredient, and package information, and be offered by a known, reputable manufacturer.
- Their therapeutic claims and potential adverse effects must have been substantiated in primary U.S. and international medical literature. Our editorial content is prepared by the same staff of clinical pharmacists who develop the information for traditional medications.
Indications of Severity Level
First DataBank has established a standard severity-level indicator to address interactions involving herbals, dietary supplements, homeopathics, trace elements, nutraceuticals and other non-FDA approved products. Those interactions that are well substantiated in the literature are included in First DataBank's
Drug-Drug Interaction Module
In cases where a potential alternative-therapy interaction exists, yet documentation is deemed insufficient, First DataBank has created a special severity- level indicator. Each of these interactions receives the same depth of coverage as our "traditional" drug-drug interactions, including interaction descriptions, clinical effect codes, and page numbers referring to First DataBank's
Evaluations of Drug Interactions. When these interactions become sufficiently well documented, they are reclassified within a standard severity level, as appropriate.
Giving Patients Confidence in Their Choices
Consumers are constantly barraged with therapeutic claims for alternative-therapy products in the media. What they really need, however, are reliable, objective sources of information on the risks and benefits of these products. To meet this need, First DataBank's
Patient Education Module includes monographs on several hundred alternative-therapy products that appear most commonly on the shelves of U.S. retail pharmacies.