A microcomputer system for the identification of drug interactions

The condition of critically ill patients may change rapidly. The consequent alterations in drug therapy may result from the advice of a number of specialists, some of whom may not be skilled in the problems of adverse drug interactions. As a result, screening for drug contra-indications by someone with the necessary experience often occurs after the patient has already received the drug. By providing information on drug interactions on an inexpensive microcomputer, the necessary screening for adverse interactions can take place before the administration of the drug. A software package, written in FORTRAN, which can handle the storage and retrieval of this type of information, is described. The system can assess up to 18 drugs simultaneously, from a data-base comprising the 102 stock drugs held by the Intensive Therapy Unit at Rotherham District General Hospital, together with 25 other drugs, which could interact with the stock drugs to produce serious or possibly fatal consequences. It also differentiates between therapeutic interactions and chemical or physical incompatibilities.