US and Foreign Drug Names
- Tracy Hampton, PhD
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
- KEYWORDS:
- BRAND NAMES
- DRUG NAMES
- TERMINOLOGY
- WORLD HEALTH
An investigation by the Food and Drug Administration has revealed that more than 100 US drug brand names have foreign counterparts that look or sound so similar that patients filling a prescription abroad may receive a drug with the wrong active ingredient (http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/reports/confusingnames.html).
For example, in the United States, Flomax is a brand name for tamsulosin, prescribed for an enlarged prostate, but in Italy, the active ingredient in a drug with the brand name Flomax is morniflumate, an anti-inflammatory drug. In the United States, Norpramin is the brand name for an antidepressive drug containing desipramine, but in Spain, Norpramin is the name of a drug that contains omeprazole, a treatment for stomach ulcers.
Most drug name confusion relates to brand names, and approximately three quarters of all US prescriptions are written using brand names rather than generic names. The Food and Drug Administration reviews drug brand names for use …
