pharmacopoeia

pharmacopoeia

(sometimes US), pharmacopeia

an authoritative book containing a list of medicinal drugs with their uses, preparation, dosages, formulas, etc.

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

pharmacopoeia

[‚fär·mə·kə′pē·ə]

(pharmacology)

A book containing a selected list of medicinal substances and their dosage forms, providing also a description and the standards for purity and strength for each.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Pharmacopoeia

 

a book containing descriptions of medicinal substances and providing standards for the purity and dosage of the substances. The first pharmacopoeia, the Ricettario Fiorentino (Florentine Book of Prescriptions), was issued in Florence in 1498. The first such work in Russia, the Pharmacopoea Rossica, was published in 1778.

The tenth, and current, edition of the official Soviet pharmacopoeia appeared in 1968. The Pharmacopoeia Committee is responsible for the compilation, revision, and reissue of the work, which has the force of law. The pharmacopoeia’s standards for medicinal products are mandatory for all the enterprises and establishments that prepare, store, use, and control these products. The pharmacopoeia includes descriptions of the methods of chemical, physicochemical, and biological analyses of drugs, information on reagents and indicators, a list of toxic drugs (list A), a list of highly potent drugs (list B), and tables of maximum single and daily doses for adults and children.

Many countries have national pharmacopoeias. The World Health Organization publishes Pharmacopoea Internationalis, which, however, lacks legal force.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.