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Article: Drug Names May Seem Baffling, But Companies Can't Help It
- Article from:
- THE JOURNAL RECORD
- Article date:
- October 14, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1994 The Journal Record. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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NEW YORK _ Quick, what was that prescription your father takes
for his ulcer? Zantac? Xanax? Zenate?
Or that heart drug your uncle takes. Cardizem? Procardia?
Cardura? Or that new breast cancer drug, Taxol _ or was it
Paxil?
Pharmaceutical makers seem intent on tying the American tongue
with brand names that defy linguistic logic and often look and
sound like one another. While other new product names are
designed to be memorable, drug companies seem to live in a nether
world of pharmo-jargon founded by ancient Greeks and populated
only by doctors and druggists.
It's not just confusing _ it's also dangerous.
Misunderstandings over names have led to fatal mistakes in
prescriptions.
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