What is it with Americans and their refusal to refer to medication by name, instead insisting on local brand names that the rest of us have to google to work out what the fuck they’re going on about?
Celexa, Zirtek, Singulair. These are product names, and often they are hyper local, or randomly change what’s in them and call it the same thing.
I get why the drugs companies do it. They don’t want you buying generics whereas health systems in the rest of the planet are state funded and don’t put up with being held to ransom by big pharma.
But it’s a pain in the arse for the rest of us, and also potentially dangerous when they decide they’re going to grow the brand by calling a bunch of different drugs the same thing.
This is what I’m talking about. Those are product names. Those drugs are called “montelukast” and “cetirizine”. I do wish they’d pack this bullshit in.
Calpol and lemsip are not like for like. Those are products that include one or more drugs (lemsip is a cocktail), but the drug isn’t the entirety of what they are.
The yanks do it for everything. Like, in the example quoted, literally any antihistamine will do, but they rush straight to one specific brand of one specific antihistamine.
The only true counter example I’m aware of is salbutamol, which we almost exclusively refer to as “ventolin”, but they call “albuterol”
I've heard similar about Brits, not just about medicines or childcare products. I'm pretty sure Irish people do it too but I don't notice because it's in my childhood vocabulary. I tend not to do it with prescription meds but do with OTC things, especially since moving here.
Sarah Brown
Unknown parent • •Sarah Brown
Unknown parent • •@Ghost of Hope @Becky is not a bear para-hydroxyacetanilide
From which you get PARA-hydroxyaCETAnilide and then “mol” because it’s a phenol derivative,
Or para-hydroxyACETAnilide and then “minophen” because it’s an amine and phenol derivative.
Sarah Brown
Unknown parent • •Sarah Brown
in reply to Sarah Brown • •@Becky is not a bear @Ghost of Hope But I digress: citalopram, cetirizine, montelukast, etc.
Unambiguous. These are the names of drugs.
Celexa, Zirtek, Singulair. These are product names, and often they are hyper local, or randomly change what’s in them and call it the same thing.
I get why the drugs companies do it. They don’t want you buying generics whereas health systems in the rest of the planet are state funded and don’t put up with being held to ransom by big pharma.
But it’s a pain in the arse for the rest of us, and also potentially dangerous when they decide they’re going to grow the brand by calling a bunch of different drugs the same thing.
Alexandra Lanes
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Sarah Brown
in reply to Alexandra Lanes • •Sarah Brown
in reply to Sarah Brown • •Spring Breakdown :jo:
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Ailbhe
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Sarah Brown
in reply to Ailbhe • •Calpol and lemsip are not like for like. Those are products that include one or more drugs (lemsip is a cocktail), but the drug isn’t the entirety of what they are.
The yanks do it for everything. Like, in the example quoted, literally any antihistamine will do, but they rush straight to one specific brand of one specific antihistamine.
The only true counter example I’m aware of is salbutamol, which we almost exclusively refer to as “ventolin”, but they call “albuterol”
Sarah Brown
in reply to Sarah Brown • •Ailbhe
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Ailbhe
in reply to Ailbhe • • •Sarah Brown likes this.
: j@fabrica:~/src;
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Sarah Brown
in reply to : j@fabrica:~/src; • •Aspirin is a weird one because is started out as a trademark and then Bayer lost it for being naughty.
And acetyl salicylic acid is a mouthful.