Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A diagnosis is the assessment that a particular medical condition is present while an indication is a reason for use. [3] The opposite of an indication is a contraindication, [4] a reason to withhold a certain medical treatment because the risks of treatment clearly outweigh the benefits.
A medical guideline (also called a clinical guideline, standard treatment guideline, or clinical practice guideline) is a document with the aim of guiding decisions and criteria regarding diagnosis, management, and treatment in specific areas of healthcare. Such documents have been in use for thousands of years during the entire history of ...
Before a drug can be prescribed, it must undergo the FDA's approval process. While a drug can feasibly be used off-label (for non-approved indications), it still is required to be approved for a specific disease or medical condition. [2] Drug companies seeking to sell a drug in the United States must first test it.
The ability to prescribe drugs for uses beyond the officially approved indications is commonly used to good effect by healthcare providers. For example, methotrexate is commonly used off-label because its immunomodulatory effects relieve various disorders. [2] However, off-label use can entail health risks and differences in legal liability.
A formulary is a list of pharmaceutical drugs, often decided upon by a group of people, for various reasons such as insurance coverage or use at a medical facility. [1] Traditionally, a formulary contained a collection of formulas for the compounding and testing of medication (a resource closer to what would be referred to as a pharmacopoeia ...
A medical specialty is a branch of medical practice that is focused on a defined group of patients, diseases, skills, or philosophy. Examples include those branches of medicine that deal exclusively with children ( pediatrics ), cancer ( oncology ), laboratory medicine ( pathology ), or primary care ( family medicine ).
Pharmacotherapy, also known as pharmacological therapy or drug therapy, is defined as medical treatment that utilizes one or more pharmaceutical drugs to improve ongoing symptoms (symptomatic relief), treat the underlying condition, or act as a prevention for other diseases (prophylaxis).
Pharmaceuticals may also be described as "specialty", independent of other classifications, which is an ill-defined class of drugs that might be difficult to administer, require special handling during administration, require patient monitoring during and immediately after administration, have particular regulatory requirements restricting ...