Disseminating drug prescribing information: the cox-2 inhibitors withdrawals.
This case study examined the recent withdrawal of valdecoxib to determine the timeliness of updates in commonly used information sources used by healthcare professionals. The method included assembling a purposive sample of 15 drug reference and warning systems that were then systematically monitored for several months after the withdrawal of valdecoxib to determine the time to update this information. These information sources were classified and described qualitatively. A time to diffusion curve was plotted and the average number of days to report the drug withdrawal or update reference databases was calculated. Only 2 of 15 information systems reported the drug withdrawal on the actual date of the FDA announcement. Institutional electronic textbooks took an average of 109.8 days (+/-14 days) to report the withdrawal. In addition, one pharma-sponsored dissemination source (Peerview Press) had not updated their information as of this publication.
Strayer
Scott M
SM
University of Virginia Health System, Department of Family Medicine, P.O. Box 800729, Charlottesville, Virginia USA 22908-0729, USA. sstrayer@virginia.edu
Slawson
David C
DC
Shaughnessy
Allen F
AF
D016907:Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting Systems; D052246:Cyclooxygenase 2 Inhibitors; D016208:Databases, Factual; D017277:Drug Approval; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D020407:Internet; D007555:Isoxazoles; D046609:Libraries, Digital; D012014:Reference Books, Medical; D013449:Sulfonamides; D013782:Textbooks as Topic; D014481:United States; D000096926:Benzenesulfonamides
D052246:Cyclooxygenase 2 Inhibitors; D007555:Isoxazoles; D013449:Sulfonamides; C406224:valdecoxib; D000096926:Benzenesulfonamides