British National Formulary
Encyclopedia
The British National Formulary (BNF) is a medical
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

 and pharmaceutical
Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...

 reference book that contains a wide spectrum of information and advice on prescribing
Medical prescription
A prescription is a health-care program implemented by a physician or other medical practitioner in the form of instructions that govern the plan of care for an individual patient. Prescriptions may include orders to be performed by a patient, caretaker, nurse, pharmacist or other therapist....

 and pharmacology
Pharmacology
Pharmacology is the branch of medicine and biology concerned with the study of drug action. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and chemicals that affect normal or abnormal biochemical function...

, along with specific facts and details about all medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

s available on the National Health Service
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...

 (NHS), including indication(s)
Indication (medicine)
In medicine, an indication is a valid reason to use a certain test, medication, procedure, or surgery. The opposite of indication is contraindication.-Drugs:...

, contraindication
Contraindication
In medicine, a contraindication is a condition or factor that serves as a reason to withhold a certain medical treatment.Some contraindications are absolute, meaning that there are no reasonable circumstances for undertaking a course of action...

s, side effects
Adverse effect
In medicine, an adverse effect is a harmful and undesired effect resulting from a medication or other intervention such as surgery.An adverse effect may be termed a "side effect", when judged to be secondary to a main or therapeutic effect. If it results from an unsuitable or incorrect dosage or...

, doses
Dose (biochemistry)
A dose is a quantity of something that may impact an organism biologically; the greater the quantity, the larger the dose. In nutrition, the term is usually applied to how much of a specific nutrient is in a person's diet or in a particular food, meal, or dietary supplement...

, legal classification
Drug prohibition law
Drug prohibition law is prohibition-based law by which governments prohibit, except under licence, the production, supply, and possession of many, but not all, substances which are recognised as drugs, and which corresponds to international treaty commitments in the Single Convention on Narcotic...

, names and prices of available proprietary and generic
Generic drug
A generic drug is a drug defined as "a drug product that is comparable to brand/reference listed drug product in dosage form, strength, route of administration, quality and performance characteristics, and intended use." It has also been defined as a term referring to any drug marketed under its...

 formulations, and any other notable points. Though it is a national formulary
Formulary (pharmacy)
At its most basic level, a formulary is a list of medicines. Traditionally, a formulary contained a collection of formulas for the compounding and testing of medication . The main function of formularies today is to specify which medicines are approved to be prescribed under a particular contract...

, it nevertheless also includes entries for some medicines which are not available under the NHS and must be prescribed and/or bought privately
Private healthcare
Private healthcare or private medicine is healthcare and medicine provided by entities other than the government. The term is generally used more in Europe and other countries which have publicly-funded health care, to differentiate the arrangement from the usual system.Ethical issues relating to...

 (such as alprazolam
Alprazolam
Alprazolam is a short-acting anxiolytic of the benzodiazepine class of psychoactive drugs. Alprazolam, like other benzodiazepines, binds to specific sites on the GABAA gamma-amino-butyric acid receptor...

 tablets or minoxidil
Minoxidil
Minoxidil is an antihypertensive vasodilator medication which also slows or stops hair loss and promotes hair regrowth. Now off-patent, it is available over-the-counter for the treatment of androgenic alopecia. Minoxidil must be used indefinitely for continued support of existing hair follicles and...

 solution). A symbol clearly denotes such drugs in their entry.

It is used by doctors
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...

 (both general practitioner
General practitioner
A general practitioner is a medical practitioner who treats acute and chronic illnesses and provides preventive care and health education for all ages and both sexes. They have particular skills in treating people with multiple health issues and comorbidities...

s and specialist practitioners
Specialty (medicine)
A specialty in medicine is a branch of medical science. After completing medical school, physicians or surgeons usually further their medical education in a specific specialty of medicine by completing a multiple year residency to become a medical specialist.-History of medical specialization:To...

), and by other prescribing and non-prescribing healthcare professionals
Health care provider
A health care provider is an individual or an institution that provides preventive, curative, promotional or rehabilitative health care services in a systematic way to individuals, families or communities....

 (such as nurses, paramedic
Paramedic
A paramedic is a healthcare professional that works in emergency medical situations. Paramedics provide advanced levels of care for medical emergencies and trauma. The majority of paramedics are based in the field in ambulances, emergency response vehicles, or in specialist mobile units such as...

s, and pharmacist
Pharmacist
Pharmacists are allied health professionals who practice in pharmacy, the field of health sciences focusing on safe and effective medication use...

s) to help them use drugs optimally to care for patients as appropriately as possible. For example, it would be a useful reference source for nurses who administer medications on hospital wards, and even for patients and others seeking an authoritative source of advice on any aspect of pharmacotherapy
Pharmacotherapy
Pharmacotherapy is the treatment of disease through the administration of drugs. As such, it is considered part of the larger category of therapy....

.

Development

Many individuals and organisations contribute towards the preparation of the BNF. It is jointly published by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society
Royal Pharmaceutical Society
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society is the body responsible for the leadership and support of the pharmacy profession within England, Scotland and Wales...

 and the BMJ Group, which is owned by the British Medical Association
British Medical Association
The British Medical Association is the professional association and registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association’s headquarters are located in BMA House,...

. It is published under the authority of a Joint Formulary Committee which comprises representatives of the two professional bodies and the Department of Health
Department of Health (United Kingdom)
The Department of Health is a department of the United Kingdom government with responsibility for government policy for health and social care matters and for the National Health Service in England along with a few elements of the same matters which are not otherwise devolved to the Scottish,...

.

Information on drugs is drawn from the manufacturers' product literature, medical and pharmaceutical literature, regulatory authorities and professional bodies. Advice is constructed from clinical literature and reflects, as far as possible, an evaluation of the evidence from diverse sources. The BNF also takes account of authoritative national guidelines and emerging safety concerns. In addition, the Joint Formulary Committee takes advice on all therapeutic areas from expert clinicians; this ensures that the BNF's recommendations are relevant to practice.

Editions

A new edition is published twice a year, in March and September. The current edition is 62, which was published in September 2011. As a custom, the colour of each edition is radically different to the previous; edition 60 was cyan, edition 61 is cheddar, and edition 62 is green.

Availability

The BNF is available for purchase in printed form and also online at bnf.org. Internet visitors to bnf.org who have an IP address in the UK, Channel Islands and developing countries can access the full text of BNF for free. Visitors with IP addresses in all other countries can subscribe to BNF at MedicinesComplete. Healthcare professionals can also subscribe to a customisable BNF via their intranet at BNF on FormularyComplete.

Sister publications

The British National Formulary for Children
British National Formulary for Children
The British National Formulary for Children is the standard UK paediatric reference for prescribing and pharmacology, among others indications, side effects and costs of the prescription of all medication drugs available on the National Health Service....

 (BNF-C) is published yearly, and details the doses and uses of medicines in children. There are also editions specially for nurses - The Nurse Prescriber's Formulary and The Extended Nurse Prescriber's Formulary, although with the recent changes to allow Extended Nurse Prescribers to prescribe from the full BNF, the fate of the latter publication is in some doubt.

Sections

The BNF is divided into various sections with the main sections on drugs and preparations being organised by body system.

Table of Contents
  • Preface
  • General information and late changes
  • General Reference
  • Guidance on prescribing
  • Emergency treatment of poisoning
  • Medical emergencies in the community


Notes on drugs and preparations
  • 1 Gastro-intestinal system
  • 2 Cardiovascular system
  • 3 Respiratory system
  • 4 Central nervous system
  • 5 Infections
  • 6 Endocrine system
  • 7 Obstetrics, gynaecology, and urinary-tract disorders
  • 8 Malignant disease and immunosuppression
  • 9 Nutrition and blood
  • 10 Musculoskeletal and joint diseases
  • 11 Eye
  • 12 Ear, nose, and oropharynx
  • 13 Skin
  • 14 Immunological products and vaccines
  • 15 Anaesthesia


Appendixes and indexes
  • Appendix 1 Interactions
  • Appendix 2 Liver disease
  • Appendix 3 Renal impairment
  • Appendix 4 Pregnancy
  • Appendix 5 Breast-feeding
  • Appendix 6 Intravenous additives
  • Appendix 7 Borderline substances
  • Appendix 8 Wound management products and elastic hosiery
  • Appendix 9 Cautionary and advisory labels for dispensed medicines
  • Dental Practitioners’ Formulary
  • Nurse Prescribers’ Formulary
  • Index of manufacturers
  • Special-order manufacturers
  • Yellow Card
    Yellow Card Scheme
    The Yellow Card Scheme is the UK system for collecting information on suspected Adverse Drug Reactions to medicines. The Scheme was founded in 1964 after the thalidomide disaster, and was developed by Dr Bill Inman....


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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