Name that Drug – How Generic Drugs get Their Names Who decides a drug’s Generic name? Surely they don’t just pick these names for drugs out of a hat. Names for drugs can be complicated sounding and difficult to pronounce. Generic drugs have completely different names from their brand name brothers or sisters (we want to be fair here). The reason a generic drug receives a different name from the brand name is so, that when it comes to dispensing drugs in a pharmacy, there won’t be any confusion as to which drug a customer receives.
When a company first develops a drug, it is given a chemical name and also a code name. The chemical name is usually one that most of us couldn’t even pronounce. The chemical name refers to its chemical structure. For instance the drug Tylenol has a chemical name of N-acetyl-p-aminophenol. When researchers are developing a drug they use the code name as an easy way to reference the drug during their research.
The United States Adopted Names Council (Isn’t that a mouthful?) is the official entity that assigns the generic name. This is a council that consists of five volunteers, one person from the American Medical Association, one from the American Pharmacists Association, one from the United States Pharmacopeia, a member of the FDA, and a member at large. The at large member is not a large person. It is a person chosen from lists compiled of the members from the three professional organizations involved in the council. This council has been naming generic drugs since June of 1961.
The company who developed the drug gets to choose the brand name. The FDA has the final approval over the brand name. A good example of this would be Tylenol. In Tylenol’s case the generic name is Acetaminophen and, of course, the brand name is Tylenol.
The FDA approves all drugs that come on the United States market. The FDA not only approves the drugs, but it must also approve both the generic and the brand names. Any company that wants to sell a drug after the drug’s patent expires can only use the generic name. The original manufacturer retains the brand name and can also sell the drug under both the brand and generic names.
Patents for brand name drugs, in the United States, are usually for 20 years. When the patent expires on a brand name drug, this allows generics to be sold and makes the cost of the drug go down. Insurance companies encourage covered persons to use generic drugs and many companies, like Wal-Mart, sell generics at very cheap prices.
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Name that Drug – How Generic Drugs get Their Names Who decides a drug’s Generic name? Surely they don’t just pick these names for drugs out of a hat. Names for drugs can be complicated sounding and difficult to pronounce. Generic drugs have completely different names from their brand name brothers or sisters (we want to be fair here). The reason a generic drug receives a different name from the brand name is so, that when it comes to dispensing drugs in a pharmacy, there won’t be any confusion as to which drug a customer receives.
When a company first develops a drug, it is given a chemical name and also a code name. The chemical name is usually one that most of us couldn’t even pronounce. The chemical name refers to its chemical structure. For instance the drug Tylenol has a chemical name of N-acetyl-p-aminophenol. When researchers are developing a drug they use the code name as an easy way to reference the drug during their research.
The United States Adopted Names Council (Isn’t that a mouthful?) is the official entity that assigns the generic name. This is a council that consists of five volunteers, one person from the American Medical Association, one from the American Pharmacists Association, one from the United States Pharmacopeia, a member of the FDA, and a member at large. The at large member is not a large person. It is a person chosen from lists compiled of the members from the three professional organizations involved in the council. This council has been naming generic drugs since June of 1961.
The company who developed the drug gets to choose the brand name. The FDA has the final approval over the brand name. A good example of this would be Tylenol. In Tylenol’s case the generic name is Acetaminophen and, of course, the brand name is Tylenol.
The FDA approves all drugs that come on the United States market. The FDA not only approves the drugs, but it must also approve both the generic and the brand names. Any company that wants to sell a drug after the drug’s patent expires can only use the generic name. The original manufacturer retains the brand name and can also sell the drug under both the brand and generic names.
Patents for brand name drugs, in the United States, are usually for 20 years. When the patent expires on a brand name drug, this allows generics to be sold and makes the cost of the drug go down. Insurance companies encourage covered persons to use generic drugs and many companies, like Wal-Mart, sell generics at very cheap prices.