Drug Information Center
The purpose of the Drug Information Center (DIC) is to serve health care professionals throughout Washington by answering critical questions on drug use and its possible side effects. The DIC routinely responds to inquiries regarding appropriate therapy for specific patients; adverse reactions to drugs; efficacy of drugs; drug interactions; intravenous additive incompatibilities; biopharmaceutic and pharmacokinetic parameters of drugs; dosing in renal failure; appropriate therapy for a disease state; identification of foreign drugs; information on investigational agents; and information on new drugs.
The DIC was established by the College of Pharmacy in 1973 and was transferred in 1988 to WSU's emerging Spokane campus. Since its founding, the DIC's reputation and the demand for its services have grown tremendously. In 1986, the DIC fielded just under 1,000 requests for information. By 1993, that number had grown to over 3,100. WSU's Drug Information Center is the only source of its' type for the state's more than 20,000 licensed doctors and pharmacists. Given this circumstance, plus the tremendous growth of Washington's population (more than 18 percent during the 1980s), the progressive aging of the population, the decrease in the length of hospital stays, increased acuity of drug therapy, and health care reform, demands on the DIC have never been greater.
As Washington's only remaining public access drug information hotline, the DIC plays a vital role in providing outstanding health care to the citizens of the Northwest.
For more information about the DIC, call (509) 358-7662------- Danial Baker, Pharm.D., FASHP, FASCP Terri Levien, Pharm.D. ------------- For more information about the WSU Spokane campus, visit: www.spokane.wsu.edu
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