“Comprehensive Dermatologic Drug Therapy has stood the test of time over twenty years and is still a stand-alone title in which people can quickly find answers.” – Dr. Stephen Wolverton
One of the interesting new chapters in Comprehensive Dermatologic Drug Therapy is on drugs that are traditionally thought of as chemotherapeutic agents that either a dermatologist will prescribe or that can be co-managed with an oncologist. Even if an oncologist is prescribing them, we as dermatologists need to know these drugs and what to follow as our patients are managed by the oncologist.
There are now three chapters dedicated to biologic therapies, whereas there was only one in the first edition. As we’ve gone from one to two to three chapters on this topic, there have been some products that have disappeared from the market as well as new therapies, like those in the interleukin inhibitor group and the drug ustekinumab under the trade name of Stelara, which are being increasingly used. So the bottom line is if somebody’s interested in expanding their repertoire of biologic therapies, Comprehensive Dermatologic Drug Therapy will be extremely useful.
There are actually three components to the book. There’s the traditional print version, the e-book, which is a replica of the print version and which will have some value-added features, and the web application, which is basically the distilled, greatest hits of the print version available on a handheld mobile device. The intent of the app is not to give a version that people will read from A to Z, but rather to provide a reference for specific questions on monitoring or drug interactions.
Other drug therapy books tend to be disease-based, whereas mine is a drug-based book. One of the great things about this book is that it fits my personality and my organizational interests. There is just so much to know and I’ve always been interested in how to condense information. I like having somewhere to go for a concise reference. So it’s very gratifying to see that Comprehensive Dermatologic Drug Therapy has stood the test of time over twenty years and is still a stand-alone title in which people can quickly find answers. And it’s even better now with the electronic aspects.
Stephen Wolverton, MD is the Theodore Arlook Professor of Dermatology at Indiana University. His academic interests include systemic drug use in dermatology, with a focus on drug safety and interactions. He is a well-known author in the area of dermatology and is author of Comprehensive Dermatologic Drug Therapy.
Dr. Wolverton has served as a visiting professor in various dermatology residency programs, and has led numerous symposia on drug therapy. He received his medical degree from the Indiana University School of Medicine and completed residencies at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Dayton, Ohio, and Wright State University. Dr. Wolverton is a member of the American Academy of Dermatology and the Dermatology Teachers Exchange Group.
