therapeutic index

noun

|Updated on: 19 Jun 2018

Definition of therapeutic index

: a measure of the relative desirability of a drug for the attaining of a particular medical end that is usually expressed as the ratio of the largest dose producing no toxic symptoms to the smallest dose routinely producing cures

Recent Examples of therapeutic index from the Web

The therapeutic index is the ratio of a drug’s efficacy to its toxicity.

— richard klasco, New York Times, "Should Doctors Consider Body Size When Prescribing Drugs?," 8 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'therapeutic index.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of therapeutic index

1926

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

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Medical Dictionary

therapeutic index

noun

medical Definition of therapeutic index

: a measure of the relative desirability of a drug for the attaining of a particular medical end that is usually expressed as the ratio of the largest dose producing no toxic symptoms to the smallest dose routinely producing cures

Learn More about therapeutic index

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about therapeutic index

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