Saturday, December 09, 2006

Xylotriptyzoqanukine: Drug Name Origins

Ever wonder how drug companies come up with such bizarre names for their drugs as Lipitor, Viagra, or Xylocaine? The FDA has a very interesting article on drug names, including how drug names are developed, what goes into a drug's name, and how the wrong name can be lethal.

2 comments:

Maurice Mitchell said...

Fascinating, although a little dry. I especially liked the part about the handwriting problems with Coumadin. I heard that drug companies will intentionally give the "generic" name a ridiculously complicated and heard to remember name to reduce the popularity of the generic equivalent. Not sure if that's true or not.

Nigel G Mitchell said...

I agree, a little dry. I tried to find a more interesting article with the same answer, but that was it. I didn't know that about the generic - not surprised.