Editor, – In 'Electronic prescribing' ('Letters' Aust Prescr 1999;22:28), G. Gabb and A. Vitry refer to 'cheaper, but potentially biased, industry-subsidised electronic packages may change the dream of therapeutic Utopia into a nightmare'. This is certainly not the case for the package I purchased in 1993. It has transformed my prescribing to be more accurate, legible and an instant source of approved drug information. I have taught this package to many other doctors and we and others have shown that it is lauded by doctors, patients and pharmacists. When prescriptions are generated electronically the Government saves money because fewer adverse events result from drug-drug, drug-disease, drug-pregnancy and drug-sports interactions.
Peter Tribe
General Practitioner
Melbourne, Vic.