At the time of launch of a new product there is a sizeable increase in the number of drug information requests received by the marketing company. It is important that medical personnel be available to support the information needs of medical professionals and the companies sales representatives without. crippling their clinical research activities. Therefore, it is essential that a system be in place which provides for the accurate and timely processing of these requests. This paper describes a system designed to meet these needs. The Drug Information Service is responsible for coordinating an integrated system for processing both written and telephone inquiries. Preparation for product launch includes the development of a comprehensive product bibliography and index to facilitate rapid access to published literature by the medical staff; the preparation of standard responses to anticipated inquiries; and the conduct of training classes of medical personnel who are to assist with responding to drug information questions. Consideration is given to the use of unpublished data and the legal implications of responding t o medical inquiries. These activities are integrated into the existing automated drug information system database which allows for monitoring of activities, tracking of individual requests and retrieval of previously completed replies for re-use. Copyright 0 1985 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. 4 2 5 0735-79 15/85/0304-0425$3.50/0 Clinical Research and Regulatory Affairs Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by Chulalongkorn University on 12/27/14 For personal use only.

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