Not since ADIS Press published their 1994 "Tablet and Capsule Guide" has there been a drug identification tool specifically for medicines marketed in New Zealand. The lack of a current and technologically advanced New Zealand drug identification tool has been the impetus for developing drugIDNZ.

Informal market research would suggest that such a tool is needed in New Zealand, however the small and specialised market for such products has hindered development until now.  It is a logical development to offer a computer based drug identification tool rather than as a print copy, in view of the high costs and rapid dating of print copies, plus the multivariant search facilities offered in this electronic tool will hasten identification.

We anticipate that feedback and comments will accelerate further development of the drugIDNZ tool, but hope that users will find drugIDNZ a user-friendly application using standard computer application concepts.  This product is intended to be a dynamic resource with feedback on, for example, any missing products.  Your comments are important, as these will help drive and shape the content of future versions both in terms of function and the database of drugs.

drugIDNZ may not solve all your drug identifcation problems as it is focused primarily on "approved" medicines in New Zealand, particularly prescription and restricted medicines plus some pharmacy and general sale medicines. When information and samples are available pharmacy and general sale medicines have been included and this remains an area that we will strive to improve our coverage.  At this stage drugIDNZ does NOT include illegal or "street" drugs although this area has potential for inclusion in the future.  Our goal is to provide a comprehensive and evolving resource to assist in identification of drug dosage forms, especially in relation to individual patient care.  

drugIDNZ is a comprehensive electronic database for the identification of New Zealand drugs (primarily tablets and capsules), and where available, including visual images of the drug.  Potential users of drugIDNZ include Health Professionals, Police, Customs, Prisons, and Pharmaceutical Companies.

drugIDNZ is an off-line application provided under license, as a installable compiled executable file (see X2Net WebCompiler).   It is for computers that run Windows, as it uses web technologies and requires Internet Explorer Version 4 and above to be available (but not necessarily the default browser)

drugIDNZ's easy-to-use multivariant search facilities are designed to help Healthcare and Law & Order professionals make fast and accurate positive identification of tablets, capsules and many other products from their physical appearance.   Over 2000 drugs are currently included in the drugIDNZ database and where possible drugIDNZ makes visual confirmation simple with its extensive image library of over 1580 colour photographs.

Ideally all products would have associated images and this remains the goal of drugIDNZ.  However, it may be possible from markings and logos etc. to make an initial "likely" determination of a drug from non-image information alone, hence the inclusion of these products.  Images are generally available for the most frequently used medicines on the New Zealand market.

There are three parts to the drugIDNZ search page:

1-Search Inputs

2-Search Results

3-Product Details

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1 Search Inputs   

To make a drugIDNZ identification, simply input any known information such as marking, product (i.e. brand) name, medicine (i.e. generic) name, dose form, colour(s) and select from the many available options the criteria that best describe the unknown tablet, capsule, transdermal "patch", inhaler or "other" (e.g. suppositories, pessaries, lozenges, inhalants.....) dose form.   drugIDNZ will match your selected criteria against the contents of the database.  Partial input of information may be all that is needed, especially with markings that are likely to be "unique".  All tablets, capsules, "patches", inhalers or "other" dose forms matching your criteria will then be displayed in the Search Results panel.

2 Search Results   

The Search Results panel provides rows of brief details (including images where available) of drugs matching the Search Inputs.

When one locates a drug of interest, any images present in the product row can be enlarged on clicking the image.  The search process is usually rapid but will depend upon the computer resources available, and because images of the products found are able to be enlarged for visual confirmation you can quickly test different search strategies.

An important feature is the Number of available medicines as this may exceed the number of rows in the on-screen table of drugs, in which case the user can either use the table forward (>) arrow button, or increase the table row size to progress through the available drugs from the search.
Clicking on a product row results in updating of the Product Details panel.

3 Product Details   

The Product Details panel present more detailed information, where available, including:

image (click to enlarge) example logo image form shape & description colour(s) whether scored and number of sides scored (tablets) if discontinued size

weight marking(s) Company/Manufacturer legal classification "action" link to Medsafe data sheet, where available link to Medsafe Consumer Medicines Information (CMI), where available any "other" relevant information (e.g. odour if distinctive)

N.B.  see disclaimer

Please note that drugIDNZ does NOT provide a drug identification service per se, rather a resource to assist in identifying drug dose forms in New Zealand.