Drug, device and biotech information.

• Author: Kohn, Steven M.
• Position: Web sites

IN THE past several years, the number of websites useful to counsel defending medical drug and device litigation has expanded dramatically. Like the proverbial kid in a candy store, lawyers and medical analysts are confronted by seemingly endless choices of potentially invaluable information on the Internet. Once search techniques are mastered, Internet sites can be a tremendous timesaver, resulting in faster, more thorough and less expensive research.

Almost everything's on the Web

The information available on the Internet includes almost everything needed to conduct research in a drug or device case, including nationwide listings of physicians and other medical professionals, and online versions of leading medical journals and some medical textbooks. Most pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers have home pages providing detailed descriptions of products, as well as information about company operations. Pharmacology information is available on more than 4,000 products. Government agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration also maintain home pages, with information on product recalls and other regulatory actions. Many current medical news or "hot topics" sites provide information about legislation, litigation and related issues.

MEDICAL

1. Locating Physicians

   The American Medical Association website [http://www.ama-assn.org/home. htm] has a searchable database of more than 600,000 physicians, including many who are not AMA members. If you know the last name, you can obtain a physician's address, medical school and year of graduation, where residency was done, specialty, and board certification.

2. Medical Journals

   1. Webmedlit http://www.webmedlit. com

      This website tracks more than 23 medical journals online and is organized by topic. It has search capabilities and is updated daily.

   2. Journal of the American Medical Association http://www.ama-assn.org/public /journals/jama/jamahome.htm

      Providing the latest news and tables of contents for current and past issues, the JAMA site has some full-text articles and search capability.

   3. New England Journal of Medicine http://www.nejm.org

      You can read abstracts of medical articles and then order a full article for $10. This journal also distributes each week's table of contents by e-mail.

   4. National Institutes of Health http:// www.cc.nih.gov/nursing

      This site links to numerous nursing journals, as well as the standards of care for many nursing duties. It also links to drug information and other health sites.

3. Medical Textbooks

   1. Harrisons' Principles of Internal Medicine Online http://www.harrison sonline. com/marketing/sample/indes_sample.htm

      This website includes a sample chapter online. The full-text version was scheduled to be available in June 1998. The price is $89 a year, $300 for five people--a...