How to use medical and drug information? The view of integrated information handling

Abstract

It has become very easy to import drugs from overseas due to the spread of the Internet, and this has made the construction of a country-wide system that ensures safety a complicated matter. Although drug information and side-effect information databases are widely used, what is the situation concerning non-medicinal health foods that find their way into Japan from overseas? If the harmful effects of unknown substances can be prevented, it will be very beneficial. I would like to discuss these problems from the point of view of handling medical information. © 2008 The Pharmaceutical Society of Japan.