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ThePhysicians' Desk Reference (PDR), renamedPrescriber's Digital Reference after its physical publication was discontinued, is a compilation of manufacturers' prescribing information (package insert) onprescription drugs, updated regularly and published byConnectiveRx.[citation needed]
The original PDR was titledPhysicians' Desk Reference but was renamed because not all prescribers arephysicians and the reference is no longer a hardback book used on a desk. While marketed as a means of providing physicians with the full legally mandated information relevant to writing prescriptions, it was widely available inlibraries andbookstores, was widely used by other medical specialists, and was sometimes valuable to thelayman. The book was distributed for free to all licensed medical doctors in America; only drugs which drug manufacturers paid to appear, appeared in the PDR, and no generic drugs were listed.
The 71st Edition, published in 2017, was the final hardcover edition, weighed in at 4.6 pounds (2.1 kg) and contained information on over 1,000 drugs.[1] Since then, the PDR has been available online for free.
ThePhysicians' Desk Reference was first published in 1947 by Medical Economics Inc., a magazine publisher founded by Lansing Chapman.[2] Medical Economics Inc. merged with Reinhold Publishing in 1966 to form Chapman-Reinhold.[3]Litton Industries, which owned theAmerican Book Company, acquired Chapman-Reinhold in 1968.[4] Litton sold its publishing business to theInternational Thomson Organization (ITO) in 1981.[5]
ITO successorThomson Reuters sold thePhysicians' Desk Reference toLee Equity Partners in 2009; Lee formed the new parent company PDR Network. Lee sold PDR Network toGenstar Capital in 2015.[6] Genstar merged PDR Network into the new company ConnectiveRx.[7]
ThePDR material contained includes:
The PDR has several versions and related volumes: