The PDR is the Physicians' Desk Reference, a commercially published book, an annual compilation of manufacturers' prescribing information on prescription drugs. While designed to provide physicians with the full legally mandated information relevant to writing prescriptions (just as its name suggests), it is widely available in libraries and bookstores, widely used by other medical specialists, and in significant part valuable to consumers.Since the late 20th century, a consumer edition has been offered at a much reduced price.
The main edition is usable by determined consumers in conjunction with a medical dictionary. Many practicing physicians are willing to give a patient their copy of the previous year's edition when they receive their new one, and a recent edition generally differs from the current one almost entirely by the absence of the drugs introduced in the course of the intervening years.
