FDA's Division of Drug Information offers resources for pharmacists

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did its best Tuesdayto extend an olive branch to pharmacists who struggle to maneuveraround its web site to find information from the Division of DrugInformation (DDI).

Catherine Chew, PharmD, senior health promotion officer with theFDA's DDI, presented information and resources to about 50pharmacists Tuesday.

The DDI fields questions from healthcare professionals,consumers, and manufacturers, just to name a few, Dr. Chew said.And the number of telephone calls and e-mails received by theoffice has been increasing over the past few years, mostlybecause of legislative changes.

Many of the questions the office gets are about generic drugs andspecific drug usages, side effects, and dietary supplements, shesaid.

She also discussed some resources available through the DDI thatattendees may not have been aware of. Some of these resourcesinclude:

• Podcasts on common issues
• Resources for students
• Continuing education credits
• Listservs
• News alerts

To learn more about the DDI, Chew recommended that pharmacistscontact the agency by e-mail at

druginfo@fda.hhs.gov

, byphone at the main

FDA

telephone number(

888-463-6332

) or at the

Drug Information

telephonenumber (

301-796-3400

) between the hours of 8:00 am and4:30 pm Monday through Friday, or by mail at:
Division of Drug Information
10903 New Hampshire Avenue
WO51-2201
Rockville, MD 20857.