A Quantitative and Narrative Evaluation of Goodman and Gilman’s Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics

Objective Goodman and Gilman’s The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics ( GG PBT) has been a cornerstone in the education of pharmacists, physicians, and pharmacologists for decades. The objectives of this report were to describe and evaluate the 13 th edition of GG PBT including: 1) author characteristics; 2) recency of citations; 3) conflict of interest (CoI) disclosure, and 4) expert evaluation of chapters. Methods Contributors’ (N = 115) sex, professional degrees, and presence of undisclosed potential CoI as reported by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid’s Open Payments (2013 to 2017) were examined. Year of publication of citations were extracted relative to comparison textbooks (Katzung’s Basic and Clinical Pharmacology ( Kat BCP), and DiPiro’s Pharmacotherapy: A Pathophysiologic Approach ( DiP PAPA). Content experts in pharmacy and pharmacology education provided chapter reviews. Results The percent of GG PBT contributors that were female (20.9%) was equivalent to those in Kat BCP (17.0%). Citations in GG PBT (11.5 ± 0.2 years) were significantly older than those in Kat BCP (10.4 ± 0.2) and DiP PAPA (9.1 ± 0.1, p < .0001). Contributors to GG PBT received three million in undisclosed remuneration from pharmaceutical companies (Maximum author = $743,718). In contrast, DiP PAPA made CoI information available. However, self-reported disclosures were not uniformly congruent with Open Payments reported data. Reviewers noted several strengths but also some areas for improvement. Conclusion GG PBT will continue to be an important component of the biomedical curriculum. Areas of improvement include more diverse authorship, improved conflict of interest transparency, and greater inclusion of more recent citations.