Prescrire's highly detailed report is based on dozens of reviews published in Prescrire in 2004. Its conclusions cover all the main medical fields: oncology (use of existing drugs should be improved), cardiology (rely on clinical results rather than intermediate outcome measures), gastro-enterology and hepatology (consider the harm-benefit balance of investigations), geriatrics (beware of adverse effects), gynaecology and menopause (keep to established drugs), HIV infection (guidelines for choosing antiretrovirals), infectious diseases other than HIV (effective preventive measures), neuro-psychiatry (evidence-based advances are rare), nutrition and obesity (slimming drugs still pose a risk), paediatrics (drugs to be prescribed with caution), rheumatology (do not trivialize immunosuppressants), etc.
The report for each medical field comprises the following sections: "include in your list of drugs", "manage more closely", "think about drug-induced effects", "find out more and inform patients", "do not include in your list of drugs", "remove from your list of drugs".
©Prescrire January 2005
Source:
"Enrichir sa panoplie thérapeutique : bilan de l'année 2004" Rev Prescrire 2005 ; 25 (257) : 27-62.
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