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The publishers behind the venerable Physicians' Desk Reference opened a new site for consumers based on the same information platform as the book.

Healthcare verticals hold a lot of promise for people seeking medical information. New startups like TauMed and Kosmix compete with tech heavyweight Microsoft's HealthVault, while sites provided by the Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland Clinic tap their resources for the public good.

Resource Shelf noted the arrival of PDRHealth.com, an outpost of Thomson Healthcare's Physicians' Desk Reference. Accessing the online database of the Reference generally requires a doctor to subscribe.

The value of the information available in that database now comes to the regular Internet visitor. People can sign up to receive electronic newsletters, alerts on new clinical trials, and new information about prescription drugs.

PDRHealth provides details about drugs and supplements, such as their interactions and side effects. They have indexed information on diseases and conditions, with data on the diagnosis and treatment of those.

Thomson also plans to add more health research tools to PDRHealth. The site launched with tools to help check cholesterol risks, and to find potential treatment options for conditions.

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