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MedicineNet
Pocket Drug Guide for PalmOS & Pocket PC
Reviewed
by: Howard
Carson, send
e-mail
Published
by: Beiks, go
to the web site
Requires: Any
Palm OS Hardware, Palm OS 3.5 or higher - OS 5 Enhanced;
BDicty viewer; Resolutions Supported: Sony Hi-Res (320x320),
Sony Hi-Res+ (320x480), Palm Hi-Res (320x320), Palm Standard
(160x160), Handera Hi-Res (240x320)
MSRP: $9.95
(if you already own BDicty); $17.95 (including BDicty)
I have
stood at the Pharmacy counter in my local drugstore, listening
patiently (with only half my attention) to a nice Pharmacist
intent on explaining the vagaries of some prescription
handed to me by my doctor. I don't get viruses or infections
very often, but when I do I'm rarely in a mood to listen
to a dissertation by the pharmacist. All I want to do is
get home, take the dope, get into bed and watch the Scarface
DVD in DTS 5.1 glory ("I like you to meet mah leetle
fraynd!"). It's only after the movie is over that
I begin to wonder exactly what it is the doctor prescribed.
The MedicineNet
Pocket Drug Guide is designed to work with Beiks' BDicty
reader program. Like the other Beiks dictionaries and lexicons,
the drug guide consists of clearly validated information
stored in the PalmOS database format (a pdb file). BDicty
is available in PalmOS and Pocket PC versions along with
all compatible databases produced by Beiks.
The MedicineNet
Pocket Drug Guide is a new handheld version of MedicineNet,
Inc.’s doctor-produced informational database of
400+ monographs covering over 1,000 generic and branded
names of the most popular U.S. medications (which also
means this guide is perfectly usable throughout Canada
as well). It's a reasonably comprehensive resource for
medical students, allied health professionals, you and
me. There are just over 38,000 definitions of terms and
references.
The comedian Jackie Mason used to joke that everything
we eat or do is killing us - according to the medical profession.
In his stand-up routine Mason would say that the doctors
constantly tell us that too much sugar will kill you, too
much salt will kill you, too much red meat will kill you
and even coffee is no good - but if you drink enough coffee,
at least you can lie awake at night and watch yourself
go! At least with the MedicineNet Pocket Drug Guide you
can look up whatever it is the doctor prescribed, stay
informed, thoroughly educate yourself about all the possible
side effects and drug interactions, and generally try to
get 'one-up' on the doctor. If, at the end of the day,
you turn yourself into someone who is more aware of the
real effects of whatever prescription medications you're
ingesting, you'll be able to ask more effective questions
whenever you see your doctor.
Using the database
is simple. After HotSyncing the database to install it
on your PDA, launch BDicty then select CommonMeds
from the drop-list. You can perform keyword searches to
quickly view drug information written and edited by MedicineNet’s
pharmacists and physicians. Topics covered in each drug
monograph include: generic name, brand name, drug class
and mechanism, preparations, storage, what the drug is
prescribed for, dosing, drug interactions, pregnancy and
nursing mothers, and side effects
In actual use, the guide functioned flawlessly and contained
all of the drugs I searched for including Nexium, Diovan,
levothyroxine sodium, levopoda-carbidopa, famciclovir and
about three dozen others (I was shocked - when I polled
some friends for the names of drugs they were using - at
just how many drugs they were using!).
Cons: No scroll
bar in the drug list - you're restricted to the scroll
arrows. We noted some spelling mistakes in
the definitions. For example, levothyroxine sodium is described
at the "(man-made) version of the principal thyroid
hormone..." - the word should be "principle".
Pros: You get a lot for $9.95. The definitions are thorough.
Something to keep you company when the last drug explanation
your doctor gave you was obliterated from your memory when
the pharmacist handed you the bottle of pills and demanded
$450 (or something equally outrageous). Whether you're
curious, have a specific need or actually work in the medical
profession, the MedicineNet Pocket Drug Guide is a definite
must-have. Recommended.
Letters to the Editor are welcome and occasionally abused in public. Send e-mail to: whine@kickstartnews.com
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