Doctors and pharmacists are receiving lengthy pamphlets for prescription drugs, but efforts to digitize this information are gaining traction. A bill in Congress aims to eliminate the need for paper inserts by allowing drugmakers to provide up-to-date digital information. Advocates argue that medical professionals already consult electronic versions and discard the paper inserts. Those in favor of keeping paper argue that the printed instructions are still frequently used for safe medicine usage. Switching to digital information could save billions of sheets of paper, reduce emissions, and save trees. Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is leading the charge in digitizing prescribing information, as part of its sustainability goals. Other pharmaceutical companies, like Johnson & Johnson, are also embracing digital tools for information sharing. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed the switch to digital information in 2014, but lobbying efforts from drugmakers and paper producers have delayed the change. Republican U.S. Rep. Diana Harshbarger of Tennessee, a pharmacist, is pushing for digitized drug information to improve patient safety and outcomes. The FDA spending bill is now progressing without the clause blocking the shift to digital information, but it still needs approval from the House and Senate. However, the Pharmaceutical Printed Literature Association is confident the clause will be reinstated. Japan has already digitized drug information, and other countries like Singapore and Australia are also making the switch. Digitizing drug information presents an opportunity for conservation and sustainability.
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