In an effort to boost drug safety, a new online service has been launched that allows doctors to check the FDA-approved labeling for the most commonly prescribed drugs. The service is at the center of a new campaign being led by PDR Network called "Know the Label."

The service is being delivered to all U.S. physicians and other healthcare providers electronically via the websites of PDR Network, The Doctors Company and other liability carriers, via electronic health records systems, and other partners. If doctors use the service they can earn free continuing medical education ("CME") credits.

"Full updated FDA-approved drug labeling is an important service for physicians, and integration into their EHRs is key to making this information available at the point of care," said Michael Stearns, MD, president and CEO of e-MDs, Inc., a leading national EHR vendor. "We are pleased to be delivering this service in our partnership with PDR Network and to offer the additional benefit of free CME to our physicians." 

"Our cloud-based EHR platform, athenaClinicals, allows athenahealth to provide up-to-date information to our physicians," added Evan Grossman, vice president of product strategy for athenahealth. "The PDR information and drug alerts are an example of the importance of real-time updates for busy providers...."

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National statistics confirm that nearly 30 percent of medical malpractice suits involve pharmaceuticals, and the FDA-approved labeling is often the standard to which physicians are held in these suits.

"Keeping current on FDA-approved drug labeling enhances patient safety and reduces professional liability risk," said David Troxel, MD, medical director for The Doctors Company, the country's largest professional liability carrier. "Busy physicians can find themselves unaware of all information in the drug labels or of changes to the labels for the medications they prescribe.

"The 'Know the Label' campaign and the CME credits we are providing with PDR Network to all U.S. physicians, at no charge, is a key part of our effort to motivate physicians to review the labels on a regular basis and stay abreast of the details for the drugs they prescribe," he adds.

A white paper commissioned by PDR Network from the medical malpractice defense specialists, Vaslas, Lepowsky, Hauss & Danke LLP and recently published in the Food and Drug Law Institute's Update magazine surveys hundreds of medical malpractice lawsuits in key jurisdictions and highlights the direct link between FDA-approved labeling and the standard to which physicians are held in U.S. court.

Notable in the paper is the quote: "A physician's first reading of the full FDA-approved drug label should not occur during trial prep." 

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"We commissioned this legal review because over 25 percent of drugs have clinically relevant changes to their FDA-approved labels annually," explained Edward Fotsch, MD, CEO of PDR Network, which provides digital drug information and services to U.S. physicians, and publishes the Physicians' Desk Reference. "The mission of PDR for 65 years has been to deliver important drug information to physicians and other U.S. prescribers. 'Know the Label' services now deliver additional value online via our many partners, including EHR vendors."

The "Know the Label" campaign is being launched in concert with the FDA's efforts to provide up-to-date and complete prescribing information to physicians.

"We know that physicians and other prescribers are increasingly busy and can struggle to find time to stay current with all the changes in pharmaceutical labeling," said Janet Woodcock, MD, director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the FDA. "We congratulate The Doctors Company and PDR Network for finding a practical and novel way for physicians to access the full updated labeling through electronic means and have it available at the point of prescribing. This effort dovetails nicely with our Safe Use Initiative and our intent to reduce preventable harm from pharmaceutical products."