ALBUQUERQUE – A 2004 settlement with Neurontin manufacturer Warner-Lambert, now a division of Pfizer, funded projects to help physicians, pharmacists, and consumers to access balanced prescription drug information, and to reduce pharmaceutical drug marketing's influence on prescribing decisions. Grant recipients have been developing web-based courses and various decision-support tools for physicians and others who prescribe medications. Some of these projects are now completed, and the tools and courses that were developed are being made available in the public domain. Most of these resources are free of charge to licensed medical practitioners who prescribe medication, and many of the courses may be taken for continuing medical and nursing education credit.

Optimal Prescribing is a web-based course just released by one of the grantees, Lovelace Clinic Foundation, an Albuquerque-based not-for-profit organization whose goals are healthcare delivery research, health information technology, and continuing professional education. The goals of the course are to raise awareness and help prescribers develop what the course refers to as “a healthy skepticism” in their encounters with pharmaceutical marketing messages. The course encourages prescribers to use balanced and less biased information in making good decisions on behalf of their patients. The three-credit course is now available in the public domain via CECity.com at the following link:http://www.cecity.com/ce-bin/owa/eact?a=8561 Other available courses funded by these grants may be seen at the Federation of State Medical Boards Online Prescriber Education Network (OPEN) website:http://www.fsmb.org/re/open/modules.html