Item #1: About This Database

There are several very well-known online drug databases. These include NAMI, Drugs.com, and Drugbank. We found two features of all of the drug databases that we reviewed.

1. The search engines or databaes were very text-based, and the way the information is organized and presented made the comparison between different drugs difficult. This issue demonstrated in the drug databases turns out to be a problem throughout medicine, with a lack of analytical tools for drug comparison.

2. The information we found in the major drug databases was clearly oriented around supporting the pharmaceutical companies' agendas. So they are producer rather than consumer-focused. Furthermore, the databases seemed to lack any independence from the drug companies.

Item #2: Why We Created this Drug Database

We wanted to be able to compare the drugs we were researching. Many of the common brand names that we use hide the fact that the same drug is sold through many brands. However, because the drug databases don't allow for easy comparison, it makes it seem there is far more complexity in the drugs in a category that actually exists in reality.

Independent Drug Coverage

Second, we wanted to provide a non-pharmaceutical company-controlled analysis and explanation of drugs. After reviewing several drug databases, we think we have created one of the few online non-pharma company-oriented or catered drug databases that we have seen. Instead, the database caters to patients or consumers.

Item #3: The Scope of The Database's Coverage

Currently the drug database is small in terms of the total number of drugs covered. But we intend for its coverage to grow in the future.