Physicians' Desk Reference


The Prescriber's Digital Reference is a compilation of manufacturers' prescribing information on prescription drugs, updated regularly. The original PDR was titled "Physician's Desk Reference" but was renamed because not all prescribers are physicians and the reference is no longer a hardback book stored on a desk. While designed to provide physicians with the full legally mandated information relevant to writing prescriptions, it is widely available in libraries and bookstores, widely used by other medical specialists, and sometimes valuable to the layman. The compilation is financially supported in part by pharmaceutical manufacturing corporations which create drugs listed within its pages. The 71st Edition, published in 2017, was the final hardcover edition. It weighed in at 4.6 pounds and contained information on over 1,000 drugs. Since then, the PDR is available online for free, and has been integrated into some electronic health record systems. PDR.net also links to a free mobile app.
Since the late 20th century, a consumer edition has been offered at a much reduced price. Electronic editions are available on CD-ROM and the World Wide Web to subscribers. In 1984, Paul C. Kranz and Michael Grondin travelled to Oradell, New Jersey, and presented to Medical Economics a prototype developed by Grondin on a TI 99/4A computer of how a digital copy of the PDR would work and benefit clinicians. The idea originally conceived by Kranz was well received by the president and vice-president of IT and an agreement was struck to investigate. The result was the PDR on CD-ROM. The main edition is usable by determined laypeople in conjunction with a medical dictionary.

About the ''PDR''

The PDR material contained includes:
There are several versions and related volumes: