Standardize drug names and reduce the risk of medication errors

Ever get confused over the names of medicines? I do. There’s Zantac and Xanax. Zanaflex and Zaleplon. But Zanaflex is also known as tizanidine. Tizanidine functions very differently than Zantac and its other name, ranitidine, even though they sound alike. Every drug has (at least) two names — one proprietary, and one generic. Proprietary names are created to sound catchy by the original manufacturer, almost always under a patent. The generic names are more like chemical names, in that drugs of the same class that are similarly purposed will have common suffixes, like the cholesterol controlling pills known as  statins, or the cardiac medications known as beta-blockers (whose names end with “-olol”). Continue reading ... Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how.
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: Family Physicians Tags: Meds Medications Source Type: blogs