Information regarding medicines?

Many. The trick is to know who sponsors the site, and who has skin in the game, because many websites have an agenda. A lot of people have come to think that the Mayo Institute site is pretty fair.

http://medlineplus.gov/
My students use this for their drug list assignment. It is free of advertisments.

The Physicain’s Desk Reference or PDR is considered the definitive source. It is available online but probably only in subscription databases accessed through libraries.

The safest choice to be assured of accurate information is to go to the website of the company that makes your drug(s) and look at the prescribing information (PI). In a non-virtual world, this is the thin white paper with a lot of tiny print on it. You can read all the side effect information (from most common to least common) as well as curious things that may have happened to a patient or two during the company’s clinical trial for that drug.

Side effect information should have been provided with your prescription. It is now routine for pharmacies to include this. I would be concerned if you were given a prescription that did not include the PI or other (easy to read and understand) directions for things you should watch for.

You can get a free online subscription to Epocrates (which is what docs download into their PDAs) for a quick review of the various meds they might want to prescribe. It often includes cost information as well as typical doses for adults and peds along with comprehensive side effect information. I have it on my crackberry and it is invaluable.

i believe www.webmd.com does this for you

You should be able to get the “insert” information if you google the name of the drug and the manufacturer. The PDR is the book that has all of the inserts in one place. There is a website http://www.pdr.net/login/Login.aspx I have never used it because I have a PDR at home, but I would guess it is an easy site to use. Also, when you get a new medication you can ask the pharmacist for the actual insert information from the manufacturer rather than the brief summary they give you printed by your pharmacy.

www.drugs.com is an excellent site, you literally do exactly what you just asked and it will tell you the contra-indications and how severe they are, also with an explanation.

Thanks guys awesome help x