The Editorial Executive Committee welcomes letters, which should be less than 250 words. Before a decision to publish is made, letters which refer to a published article may be sent to the author for a response. Any letter may be sent to an expert for comment. When letters are published, they are usually accompanied in the same issue by their responses or comments. The Committee screens out discourteous, inaccurate or libellous statements. The letters are sub-edited before publication. Authors are required to declare any conflicts of interest. The Committee's decision on publication is final.

 

Letter to the editor

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.

Peter Tribe

General Practitioner, Melbourne, Vic.

G. Gabb

Australian Medicines Handbook, Adelaide, S.A.

A. Vitry

Australian Medicines Handbook, Adelaide, S.A.