Pharm-ing cyberspace: the Internet as a tool for evidence based pharmacotherapy

Although the Internet lacks many of the features of a desirable drug information system, it has increasing potential to inform evidence-based patient management. This article considers three contributions that the Internet can make to evidence-based pharmacotherapy; as a delivery mechanism for textual documents, as a complementary source of intelligence and as a source of value-added information. Focusing on exemplar sites, rather than on drug and information sources in general, the author reviews the usefulness and availability of current resources. While limitations of the technology presently constrain its use for direct patient care and the quality of any information must be critically appraised, the Internet has already proved a valuable source for drug evaluation, education, research and audit.