Drug handling: Information sources

Last updated: Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Drug handling problems can be complex, but for straightforward clinical situations concerned with sampling times and so forth, check to see if you have an in-house TDM policy at your hospital. 


SmPCs often have TDM information for drugs with a narrow therapeutic range, and will also provide some pharmacokinetic data for most drugs.

Martindale, UpToDate and similar sources can be helpful for determining a range of kinetic data including time to onset of action, protein binding, Vd, metabolism and excretion.

The Medicines Learning Portal topics on renal disease and liver disease suggest some information sources that you may find helpful if you are asked to provide advice about these patients. 

SPS have produced several reviews on a range of drug handling topics including; 

How should medicines be dosed in children who are obese?

Be careful about conducting a general internet search on this subject. If you do, you may like to look at our brief guide to evaluating websites about medicines.

Presenting your answer 

Once you’ve asked sufficient questions, gathered the information required and assessed it, you’ll need to provide an answer. We can offer you some general guidance on answering clinical problems.