Drug-drug interactions in SkyscapeRx uses data from Hansten and Horn's "The Top 100 Drug Interactions".

Interaction information is in the drug monographs, section "Interactions". There is an Interaction Analyzer in which you check multiple drugs and see the interactions among them. Each drug listed in the Interaction Analyzer also links to a list of all the drugs with which it interacts, and the severity classification.

Interactions information in SkyscapeRx is in keeping with the approach of Hansten and Horn, concentrating on clinically important interactions. Here is an extract from the introduction to their book:

"It is often difficult to distinguish clinically important from unimportant drug interactions. Given the lack of definitive epidemiological studies of drug interactions in patients, it is seldom possible to determine with certainty which interactions actually represent the most danger to public health. This book represents an attempt to identify drug interactions that should not be ignored in clinical practice. The original edition of this book contained about 100 interaction monographs. It has grown substantially and now contains about 5000 individual drug-drug interactions. The interactions are arranged according to object drug (the drug affected by the interaction) and precipitant drug (the drug causing the interaction). The precipitant drugs are grouped by mechanism (e.g., enzyme inhibitors or enzyme inducers) to show the types of interactions in which each object drug participates."

This Interactions data, including additional reference material such as the Cytochrome P450 Enzymes and Transporters Table, is available from Skyscape as "Drug Interactions: Hansten and Horn Guide to Patient Management".

About the Authors

Drs. Philip Hansten and John Horn are recognized as international authorities in the field of drug-drug interactions. Their combined experience exceeds 60 years in the field. Most of their scholarship has focused on translational research designed to bring the basic principles of drug interactions into clinical focus. Their drug interaction books have been translated into 6 languages and have sold more than one million copies worldwide since 1971. Hansten and Horn have lectured extensively in North America and in over two-dozen other countries worldwide.