Evaluating and prescribing new medicines in general practice

In Australia, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approves new medicines that general practitioners (GPs) may prescribe. Medicines listed under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) have undergone a rigorous independent evaluation in relation to comparative efficacy, safety and effectiveness against medicines already on the market. However, GPs need to appraise the medicines they prescribe for individual patients, taking a number of factors into consideration.The aim of this article is to assist GPs' decision making when prescribing new medicines, and provide information about the most reliable sources of unbiased information to help them evaluate the risks and benefits in partnership with their patients.GPs require accurate summaries of a medicine's properties, efficacy and side‑effect profile from trusted sources such as the Australian Medicines Handbook, Therapeutic Guidelines, NPS\ua0MedicineWise, Australian Prescriber or the TGA. Information about a new medicine needs to be interpreted so that patients may also make informed choices