In recent years, in an attempt to manage resources and contain expenses, health care systems worldwide have had to make careful considerations of which drugs to provide. One of the strategies adopted in this effort is the use of formularies. A formulary can be defined as a “list of drugs selected by formulary committees from the commercially available ones” and its primary purpose is to “discourage the use of marginally effective drugs and treatments” and to ensure the selection of medications that have been demonstrated to be safe, effective and affordable whilst maintaining or improving quality of patient care. Decisions on formulary listing require transparency and should be justifiable to all stake holders as they could have far-reaching consequences that may impact on a number of people such as patients, health care workers and employees of the manufacturers.

Role in Hospital Formulary management decisions

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