Concerning book reviews

American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, Fall 1998 by White, Richard P, Wood, William B

Dear Sir:

We are writing to suggest that book reviews be scrutinized by several qualified individuals before publication in the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. We began teaching pharmacology to pharmacy and medical students in the 1950s and used the second edition of the text, The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics written by Goodman and Gilman. The text was judged to be excellent by any criteria. The ninth edition (1996) is a 1905-page text written by 87 authors with the help of 44 consultants. It is unlikely that one person has the expertise to evaluate all aspects of this volume, or most other textbooks, available to the beginning student of pharmacology.

The issue concerning the merit of book reviews arose when our faculty was considering what text should be adopted for use by our students of pharmacy. The review [Am. J. Pharm. Educ., 60. 225 (1996)] was cited in favor of the Ninth Edition of Goodman and Gilman. The reviewer concluded that this text should be used in Doctor of Pharmacy programs "as a major reference source" and that in his opinion it had no "shortcomings." Those of us who have examined and used this authoritative Ninth Edition in our teaching take issue with that conclusion. Some reasons for this dissent follow.

The current (ninth) edition of Goodman and Gilman has no section, not even a paragraph, that deals with the drugs used for spasticity. Cyclobenzaprine (Flexeril(R)) or carisoprodol (Soma(R)), for instance, are not indexed and the pharmacology of baclofen and dantrolene is not covered, only mentioned. In contrast, 16 pages are devoted to migraine and 1.5 pages to one drug, probucol, that is no longer on the market. Papaverine is only listed as a component of opium but was discussed in previous editions. This drug is extensively used in smooth muscle research and by some neurosurgeons for treating cerebral vasospasm. Moreover, it is presented in the 1998 issue of the Physicians Desk Reference (page 1495). The term terminal half-life appears on pages 22, 382 and 746 but is not clearly defined. There are misspelled words (e.g., gamma-aminobutyric acid in the index) and the relatively new classification of receptors as ionotropic and metabotropic is not presented. Cocaine does not appear on page 133t as indexed (students must use page 338) and contradictory statements concerning theobromine appear on pages 673 and 674 (the latter is correct).

As mentioned in the preface, the Ninth Edition is the first edition of this text that was not painstakingly reviewed by a member of the Goodman and Gilman family. The textbook is a good reference source for most aspects of pharmacology, but there are omissions and chapters differ in usefulness as a text for the first course in pharmacology. Constructive criticism of textbooks should strengthen future editions and should be welcomed by editors and authors. As with research reports, this may require more than one reviewer.

Richard P. White and William B. Wood

University of Tennessee, Memphis