[Therapy recommendations of the Drug Committee of the German Medical Association--an instrument for quality assurance in drug therapy. Drug Committee of the German Medical Association, Cologne].

The growing flood of information on drug therapy, which is increasingly overwhelming the individual physician, and the simultaneous demand for high-quality, individual therapy, call for guidelines recommending appropriate therapeutic measures for a given indication. The Drug Commission of the German Medical Profession, a scientific committee of the German Medical Association, has set itself the task of providing assistance in this context by elaborating scientifically-based, practice-oriented therapeutic guidelines. These guidelines were drawn up in accordance with a defined procedure and represent the consensus reached between the appropriate independent experts, the general practitioners and the members of the executive committee of the Drug Commission. This review presents the background, aims, procedures and criteria for assessment involved in the elaboration of the guidelines and attempts to define the position of the therapeutic guidelines in comparison to similar activities of other institutions in Germany.