European Drug Index

Book excerpt: Many health care providers are frequently dealing with problems related to the identification and interpretation of medicines and prescriptions of foreign origin. Health authorities, customs and travel agencies also encounter such problems, which are related to the increasing mobility of the European population. Thus the need for a European Drug Index is obvious. The EDI provides extended information for practitioners confronted with the enormous number of drug names available on the European pharmaceutical market. This market is increasing due to the rapidly changing palette of countries and economic restrictions in Europe. The listings have been derived from drug data sources from the increased number of participating countries in this second edition. Each item starts with a trade name, in alphabetical order, followed by (depending on the original source) dosage forms, strength, volume (if applicable), and generic name(s) of the active principle(s) in a random sequence. The item is concluded by the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification (when made available by the original source) and a code for the country of origin.