FDA creates drug information Web site

WASHINGTON, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it has created a Web site to provide consumers and professionals with information about prescription drugs.

The FDA said its new Web site provides a single source of links to information concerning such areas as drug labeling, risk evaluation, clinical trials and drug-specific safety information.

The site also provides links to such information as quarterly reports listing drugs that are being evaluated for potential safety issues, FDA warning letters, import alerts, recalls, market withdrawals and safety alerts, as well as consumer articles on drug safety.

"By placing Web links to these up-to-date resources on a single page, we're helping consumers and healthcare professionals find drug safety information faster and easier," said Dr. Paul Seligman, the FDA's associate director of safety policy and communication. "This type of communication is aimed at helping consumers and healthcare professionals make well-informed decisions about medication use."

Seligman said establishing such a Web page was one of the requirements of the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007.

The Web page is available at http://www.fda.gov/cder/drugSafety.htm.