Created by the National Library of Medicine in conjunction with the National Institutes of Health, this website (http://druginfo.nlm.nih.gov/drugportal/) is a reliable source of drug information from government agencies and other reputable sources. Content is current and updated frequently. Users may search multiple government-supported drug information databases from a single source or use the mobile-enabled site. The initial interface is clean, straightforward, and easily navigable, offering the capability of searching by drug name or category (e.g., class). Of note, categories can be nonintuitive (searching for “beta blockers” yields no results, though the category “adrenergic agents” is available). The site search mechanism suggests term-mapped alternatives from the initial search box and allows for truncation. However, term mapping is slow to populate, and the database offers no corrective feature for misspellings. This website provides access to high-quality drug information, offering a wide array of summaries for various audiences. Summaries range from new items to clinical information, and from guidelines to patient-oriented material. A mobile site presents the same clean searching interface, including the option of searching by drug name or category. JavaScript must be enabled for proper use of the site. Drug information and date of last update are kept current for the forty-nine thousand drug information summaries, which come from reputable sources such as ClinicalTrials.gov, TOXNET, and PubMed. Coverage ranges from entrance of the drug into clinical trials to its marketplace entry, with some international coverage. Results for drug inquiries are displayed and categorized according to the resource that provided the results (e.g., the FDA, MedlinePlus, DailyMed). Links to additional resources are relevant and useful.
Highly recommended as a portal for a broad scope of drug-related information from reputable US government sources, arranged by audience (health professionals, researchers, the general public, librarians, and students/educators).