The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Texas, has loaded The Complete German Commission E Monographs onto its Alternative and Integrative Health Care Program website <atc.utmb.edu/altmed>. This is the first time the Commission E Monographs have been available electronically at an academic health science center since this landmark work was translated into English and published in 1998. This web-based application of the Commission E Monographs will become part of a site that is dedicated to promoting research and information for students and faculty in the field of alternative and integrative therapies. Although most of the site is open to the public through the internet, the Commission E Monographs will be password protected within UTMB's intranet.

Other highly useful, licensed software on this site are HealthNotes Online and AltHealth Watch, which are tull text, searchable databases in the area of alternative health care. These are also password protected, licensed sites available only to on-campus users. Victor S. Sierpina, M.D., Associate Professor of Family Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch said, "Healthcare practitioners are universally and reasonably concerned that before prescribing herbs, they must have reliable information on indications, contraindications, dosages, purity, strength, safety, and drug-herb interactions. They need this in an easily accessible, readable format. The Commission E Monographs by Blumenthal et al. offers this information in a concise fashion and from a trustworthy source. It has improved the confidence of practitioners who now have a reference they can rely on in their practice. Putting this online in a university medical center setting allows a wider variety of learners, facu lty, and practitioners to access it than would be likely to buy the printed version."

It is expected that the addition of the Commission E monographs to this educational website will increase access for students and faculty to reliable information on herbal therapies as well as their dosages, indications, contraindications, and potential drug interactions.

Article copyright American Botanical Council.