Critical appraisal of drug promotional literature: Educative or misleading for second year MBBS students

Materials and Methods: A 100 different drug promotional cards were collected from the pharmaceutical companies in our hospital and given to II year medical students for analysis of DPLs using inclusion criteria given by WHO 1988 standards. The DPLs comprise literature advertising drugs, medical devices and equipment, promotion on surgical procedures, and new research findings. 1.The name(s) of the active ingredient(s) using either international non-proprietary names or the approved generic name of the drug. 2. Anti-hypertension (AHYP) (18%), anti-diabetic (ADB) (21%), anti-pyretic (AP) (8%), antiscar (ATSC) (2%), coagulant disease (ATCG) (12%), anti-cancer (AC) (9%), antiplatelet (ATPL) (2%), eye preparations (EPR) (0.9%), pregnancy inducers (PGID) (1%), contraceptives (CRTP) (3%), antifungal (ANTF) (7%), herbal (HTF) (15%), and herbal (HTF) (1%) were the classes of drugs reported [Figure 2]. Safety Records Safety Information Only (67%) recorded the medication side effects and significant ADRs among the DPLs assessed; only (77%) provided precautions, contraindications, and alerts; and only (29%) provided the fundamental interactions [Table 1].