Searchable Databases and Archives
Regulatory Matters
- British Advertising Standards Authority
- Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
- Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
- Drug Products
- Drugs@FDA (complete list of approved drugs)
- Consumer Drug Information Sheets (details of drugs approved since 1998)
- FDA Reading Room: Gateway to FDA public documents
- Medical device approval (510K)
- Talk Papers
- Warning letters
- Advanced search page
- Drug Products
- Postal Service (USPS)
- Patent and Trademark Office
Legislative Matters
Checking Credentials and Reputability
- ABMS Verification Service (board certification for physicians)
- AMA Physician Select
- Better Business Bureau
- ChoicePoint Doctor Search (Free search by state, $9.95 for disciplinary details)
- Council for Higher Education Accreditation (lists approved accrediting agencies)
- Degree.net: Distance learning and accreditation
- Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations: Accreditaton directory
- Individual State Boards (posted 8/14/03)
- OIG Exclusions Database: (individuals/entities excluded from federally funded health-care programs)
- U.S. Department of Education: Recognized accrediting associations
- U.S. Department of Education Searchable Database of Accredited Schools
Financial Reports
Other Government Records
Dietary Supplements and Herbs
Drugs
- MEDLINEplus Drug Information: Database of 9,000 prescription and nonprescription drugs
- PDR Family Guide to Prescription Drugs
Archived Publications
- Consumer Health Digest
- Consumer Reports: Part free, part by subscription only
- FDA Consumer Magazine
- Government Accountability Office: GAO Reports
- NCAHF News
- OIG Semi-Annual Reports
- Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) Archives
- Skeptical Guide to "Alternative Medicine"
Insurance
- Aetna US. Healthcare Coverage Policy Bulletins (includes many noncovered methods)
- Blue Cross/Blue Shield Association Technology Evaluation Center (TEC) Assessments
- BlueCross/BlueSheild of Wisconsin Medical Policy Bulletins
- California Technology Assessment Forum
- Cigna HealthCare Coverage Positions
- Diagnostic Codes (ICD-9-DM)
- Medicare Coverage Issues Manual (includes many noncovered methods)
- Procedure Codes (CPT-4)
- The Regent Group (Blue Cross/Blue Shield (noncovered "investigational" methods)
Dictionaries and Related lookups
- Acronym Finder (words formed from the initial letters of names)
- Bandolier Glossary of Medical Jargon
- English Dictionary and Thesaurus
- Medical Dictionary
- Medical Eponyms (medical terms derived from the name of a person)
- MediLexicon: Abbreviations, medical dictionary, and other resources
- Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Medical Research
- Clinical Queries: Tends to retrieve the most relevant citations
- Clinical Trials: Database of federally and privately supported clinical research in human volunteers
- Cochrane Collaboration Complementary Medicine Field Registry: Database related to "complementary medicine"
- MEDLINEplus: Free searching of the National Library of Medicine database of medical journal articles
- PaperChase: A more elaborate system, available for free trial or paid subscription
- Medical Outcomes Trust: Gateway to outcome evaluation tools
- Combined Health Information Database: Povides access to abstracts of over 100,000 health-related mterials that have appeared in journals, magazines, newspapers, brochures, book chapters, and videotapes
Advertising Data
- Jordan Whitney, Inc.: Weekly report on frequency of TV infomercials
Web Site Monitoring
- TracerLock: Reports newly posted material related to search terms the user selects; requires paid subscription
Books
- AddAll: Searches and compares prices among more than 40 sites and 20,000 sellers
- Library of Congress Online Catalog: Lists books and publications
Legal Documents
- Casewatch: Cases related to fraud and quackery
- Stanford Securities Action Clearinghouse: Class-action lawsuits
Internet Identities
Language Translation
This page was revised on March 31, 2008.