Technical Notes
LactMed: A New Database on Drugs and Lactation from NLM®
[Editor's Note: This Technical Note is a reprint of an announcement published on NLM-Tox-Enviro-Health-L, an e-mail announcement list available from the NLM Division of Specialized Information Services. To subscribe to this list, please see the NLM-TOX-ENVIRO-HEALTH-L Join, Leave, or Change Options page.]
LactMed, a free online database with information on drugs and lactation, is one of the newest additions to the National Library of Medicine's (NLM) TOXNET® system, a Web-based collection of resources covering toxicology, chemical safety, and environmental health.
Geared to the healthcare practitioner and nursing mother, LactMed contains over 450 drug records. It includes information such as maternal drug levels in breast milk, infant levels in blood, potential effects in breastfeeding infants and on lactation itself, the American Academy of Pediatrics category indicating the level of compatibility of the drug with breastfeeding, and alternate drugs to consider. References are included, as is nomenclature information, such as the drug's Chemical Abstract Service's (CAS) Registry number and its broad drug class.
LactMed was developed by a pharmacist who is an expert in this subject area. Three other recognized authorities serve as the database's scientific review panel. Ancillary resources, such as a glossary of terms related to drugs and lactation, and breastfeeding links are also offered. LactMed can be searched together with TOXNET's other databases in a multi-database environment, to obtain other relevant information about drugs. As a work in progress, LactMed will continue to expand with additional drugs and be enhanced with other substances, such as industrial chemicals and radiation.
