Psychiatric Drugs Fast Facts, Third Edition,
by Jerrold S. Maxmen, M.D. and Nicholas Ward, M.D.  
Special Advisor to Third Edition, Steven L. Dubovsky, M.D.  W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 2002.

I have waited patiently for the past year for this third edition of Psychiatric Drugs Fast Facts, after some disappointment about its not being released last year, when early reports said it would be released.  Jerrold Maxmen died a few years ago, but his legacy lives on, with the help of Dr. Dubovsky in this edition.  For those unfamiliar with previous editions, this is the one psychopharmacology text that is filled with clinically useful tables, such as "Names, Classes, Manufacturers, Dose Forms, Colors" (who needs a PDR?), "Doses," "Percentages of Side Effects," "Drug-Drug Interactions," and "Effects on Laboratory Tests."  The chapters run generally by the action of the medication group, and there's a new chapter in this edition called "Neuropsychiatric Disorders" that includes the antiparkinsonian medications and the antidementia medications.  The tables on drug-drug interactions are very useful, especially the comments about various interactions.  Other books or even websites that have this kind of information are rare indeed.  I've scribbled in a few of my own additions here and there (mostly from various psychopharm newsletters or journal articles), and occasionally wonder whether those have been overlooked by the authors.  Another quibble I have is that another set of tables about Cytochrome P450 drug interactions appears to have avoided updating completely.  Those quibbles aside, this is one of only two books (the other is the DSM-IV) that I keep near my desk for ready reference.  If you are one of the lucky few who have a solely psychotherapeutic practice, you will neither need nor want this book.  But if you prescribe medication, as most of us do, you will definitely want to add this to your collection.  Warmly recommended, as they say in music reviews.
--Larry S. Myers, M.D.

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