Martindale: The complete drug reference

Martindale: The Complete Drug Reference is a reference book listing some 6,000 drugs and medicines throughout the world, including details of over 146,000 proprietary preparations. It also includes 668 disease treatment reviews. It was first published in 1883 under the title Martindale: The Extra Pharmacopoeia. Martindale contains information on drugs in clinical use worldwide, as well as selected investigational and veterinary drugs, herbal and complementary medicines, pharmaceutical excipients, vitamins and nutritional agents, vaccines, radiopharmaceuticals, contrast media and diagnostic agents, medicinal gases, drugs of abuse and recreational drugs, toxic substances, disinfectants, and pesticides.

International usefulness

Martindale aims to cover drugs and related substances reported to be of clinical interest anywhere in the world. It provides a useful source of information for patients arriving from abroad to identify their existing medication. This may reveal that a currently taken proprietary preparation is available under another brand name. Alternatively if the drug is not available, the class of agent can be determined allowing a pharmacist or doctor to determine which alternative equivalent drugs can be substituted. Monographs include Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) and Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification System (ATC) numbers to help readers refer to other information systems.

Arrangement

Martindale is arranged into two main parts followed by two extensive indexes:

• Monographs on drugs and ancillary substances, listing 5,827 monographs arranged in 53 chapters based on clinical use with the corresponding disease treatment reviews. Monographs summarize the nomenclature, properties, and actions of each substance. A chapter on supplementary drugs and other substances covers some 980 monographs on new drugs, those not easily classified, herbals, and drugs no longer clinically used but still of interest. Monographs of some toxic substances are also included.
• Preparations - including over 146,000 items from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, and Venezuela.
• Directory of Manufacturers listing some 13,000 entries.
• General index: including approved names, synonyms and chemical names.

Digital versions include an additional 1,000 drug monographs, 30,000 preparation names, and 5,000 manufacturers.

References

• Sean C. Sweetman, ed. (2009). Martindale: The Complete Drug Reference (36th edition ed.). London: Pharmaceutical Press. ISBN 0-85369-840-6
  ISBN 978-0-85369-840-1. CS1 maint: Extra text (link)

External links

• Martindale: The Complete Drug Reference, 36th Edition
• Martindale: The Complete Drug Reference on MedicinesComplete