ABSTRACT
This chapter talks about the provision of drug and poison information. It covers how drug information centers and poison control centers function. The chapter emphasizes on the process of receiving and answering questions and what it is like for a pharmacist to work in these centers. Pharmacy moved beyond its knowledge of the practice of pharmacy and its basic knowledge of drugs, to a greater need to help promote and achieve rational prescribing and use of drugs. The activities of drug information pharmacists in hospitals have broadened to include performing drug-use evaluations in health-care institutions, pharmacoeconomics, drug policy development, academic detailing, and health outcomes. Poison control centers have been under great pressure to keep services and remain financially viable. Poison centers provide various services: telephone management advice about poison exposure of patients, telephone follow-up, poison prevention information, professional education about the recognition and management of poisoning, data collection and analysis, and community resource functions.
