Andrew Herd wrote:
>
> One of the things I most enjoy about medicine is the challenge of working
> out ways around this kind of insane situation.
>
> It is fascinating that brand names vary so much - on this side of the pond,
> omeprazole is called Losec. Anyone else on the list know of other branded
> names for the product? I used to work for an advertising company for a brief
> period and I could never get my head around the fact that they were prepared
> to pay huge amounts of money to market the same drug under different names
> in different countries, especially when some of the names had originally
> been picked for their "international" flavour in the first place.
> Indeed. In my old practice on the Tex-Mex border, a PDR (Physician's Desk
Reference formulary) from each country was on my desk - a necessity since
pts often went across to fill scripts (due to large price differential)
and came back with branded drug - same company - different name.
Years back, a drug rep from one of the majors came in with his company's
"new" product - a 'me-too' of Vibramycine (doxycycline) which had only
been out a couple years. When he flipped open his display chart he looked
puzzled as I strangled on my coffee. "DOXY II". What a beautiful name for
a knock-off drug that had embroiled its company in a patent-infringement
lawsuit. I asked how they came up with drug names. "Lots of research,
focus groups, computer search to make sure it doesn't have an unintended
meaning in another language." Apparently not, however, the english
language. (OK, so it is an 'archaic' word - you would think someone in
the entire company would have read enough to recognize it...)
--
Philip G. Dunlap, D.O., MPH, MPM, PhD.
Pew Doctoral Fellow, Heller School, Brandeis University
4 Bailey Hill Road
Natick, MA, 01760, USA
[log in to unmask]
(508) 650-9097
(508) 650-9152 - fax
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