This text provides updated and comprehensive information about prescription and pharmacy medicines available in the UK. Published for over 20 years as the ABPI Compendium of Data Sheets and Summaries of Product Characteristics. The compendium for 2002 contains thousands of Summaries of Product Characteristics (SPCs) which describe a medicine including its properties, effects and warnings. SPCs are written to guide healthcare professionals in the safe and appropriate use of medicines. Every year there are an estimated 12,000 changes to UK medicines information contained within the SPC"s. The Medicines Compendium contains this information from over one hundred manufacturers covering thousands of medicines. It encompasses the SPCs of both prescription only and pharmacy medicines. The source of this information is approved by the Department of Health"s Medicines Control Agency (MCA) or equivalent European Medicines Evaluation Agency.