Indian Journal of Pharmacology Medknow Publications on behalf of Indian Pharmacological Society ISSN: 0253-7613 EISSN: 1998-3751 Vol. 38, Num. 1, 2006, pp. 82-82

Indian Journal of Pharmacology, Vol. 38, No. 1, January-February, 2006, pp. 82

Book Review

Book review

Shashindran CH

Department of Pharmacology, JIPMER, Pondicherry-6
Correspondence Address:JIPMER, Pondicherry-6, shashi@jipmer.edu

Code Number: ph06023

Clinical Pharmacology by P.N. Bennett, M.J. Brown. Published by Elsevier, New Delhi. 9th Edition, 2005. Indian Reprint ISBN 81-8147-913-0. Pages 789.

I have read the first edition of this text book by Dr. D.R. Laurence way back in 1965 as a first clinical year student. The fact that this text book has been around for more than four decades speaks volumes of its popularity with the target audience.

The text book now in its 9th edition is unique among text books of pharmacology. It stands out because of the style of presentation and readability. This book fascinated me as a medical student and now in my 37th year as a teacher of pharmacology it continues to fascinate me. Pharmacology textbooks are usually dull and drab because of presentation of volumes and volumes of factual data. They put the reader to sleep within ten to fifteen minutes. But this textbook is different. It is not an easy task to make pharmacology interesting reading. The style of narration, illustrations and anecdotes have contributed immensely to its readability. The book is extremely well referenced and indexed. The authors have taken pains to make the text as concise as possible. However, in the process there has been a trade off in content coverage especially with reference to individual drug groups. There is guide to further reading at the end of each chapter to help those who seek more information. The authors themselves admit that it is not their intention to write a formulary and advise to supplement this book with others so that the reader gets a complete and comprehensive coverage.

The main strength of this book lies in the initial chapters dealing with the general principles of drug action, drug evaluation, clinical trials, ethical principles and the levels of evidence. Physiological principles and rationale of drug use are clearly explained so that the reader is prepared for a lifetime of prescribing and practice.

I recommended this as essential reading for every medical student[Figure - 1].

Copyright 2006 - Indian Journal of Pharmacology

The following images related to this document are available:

Photo images