{"id":30416,"date":"2022-07-19T01:16:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-19T01:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=30416"},"modified":"2022-07-21T11:24:37","modified_gmt":"2022-07-21T11:24:37","slug":"why-are-drug-names-so-long-and-complicated-a-pharmacist-explains-the-logic-behind-the-nomenclature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/why-are-drug-names-so-long-and-complicated-a-pharmacist-explains-the-logic-behind-the-nomenclature\/","title":{"rendered":"Why are drug names so long and complicated? A pharmacist explains the logic behind the nomenclature"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jasmine Cutler<\/a>, University of South Florida<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At some point in your life, you\u2019ll likely find yourself with a prescription from your doctor to fill. While it\u2019s important to keep track of all the medications you\u2019re taking, that can be hard to do when the names of so many of these drugs are difficult to pronounce and even harder to remember.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my role as a pharmacist<\/a>, I\u2019ve helped countless patients figure out exactly which medication they were taking for what ailment. Some wonder why they were prescribed the medication in the first place, or need help differentiating between drugs with names that seem like complete gibberish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is a rhyme and a reason to drug names. All prescribed medications follow a standard nomenclature that describes what the drug is made of and how it functions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who names drugs?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Drugs get both a brand, or proprietary, name and a generic name that is nonproprietary. Each is assigned in a slightly different process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As long as a drug compound isn\u2019t trademarked, drug companies decide on a proprietary brand name for the medications they sell. Usually the brand name relates to the conditions the drug is intended to treat and is easy for both providers and patients to remember but doesn\u2019t follow a standardized naming guideline. For example, the drug Lopressor helps lower blood pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, generic drug names all follow a standard nomenclature that helps medical providers and researchers more easily recognize and classify the drug. Lopressor, for example, has a generic name of metoprolol tartrate. The U.S. Adopted Names Council<\/a>, composed of representatives from the Food and Drug Administration, American Medical Association, U.S. Pharmacopeia and American Pharmacists Association, works with the World Health Organization<\/a> to assign international nonproprietary names, or INNs<\/a>, to drug compounds. Similar organizations exist internationally<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Pharmacist<\/a>
Generic drugs are named using standard guidelines intended to minimize confusion and aid in classification. Marko Geber\/DigitalVision via Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A globally recognized naming process makes an otherwise confusing name game more manageable. It helps the medical community easily learn and categorize newly approved medications and reduce prescribing errors by providing a unique, standard name that reflects each active ingredient in the drug.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, several Type 2 diabetes medications fall under one class called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists. Although all medications in this class have different brand names, each of the generic versions ends in the suffix \u201c-tide.\u201d This helps health providers identify all the drugs that belong to this medication class. A few examples include Byetta (exenatide), Trulicity (dulaglutide) and Victoza (liraglutide).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How are generic drug names assigned?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The naming process<\/a> starts when a drug company submits an application to the U.S. Adopted Names Council with a proposed generic name. USAN considers a number of factors when evaluating a name, such as whether it relates to how the drug works, how translatable it is to other languages and whether it is easy to say. In general, the name should be simple \u2013 fewer than four syllables long \u2013 and should not be easily confused with other existing generic drugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once a name is agreed upon by USAN and the drug company, it is then proposed to the INN Expert Group<\/a>. Sponsored by the World Health Organization, the INN Expert Group is composed of global specialists who represent the pharmaceutical, chemical, pharmacological and biochemical sciences. They may either accept the proposed name or suggest an alternative. Once the drug company, USAN and the INN Expert Group come to an agreement about a name, it is placed in the WHO Drug Information journal<\/a> for four months for public comments or objections before final adoption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s in a generic drug name?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Generic names follow a prefix-infix-stem system<\/a>. The prefix helps distinguish a drug from other drugs in the same class. The infix, used more occasionally, further subclassifies the drug. The stem at the very end of the name indicates the drug\u2019s function and marks its place within the name game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stems<\/a> are composed of one or two syllables that describe a drug\u2019s biological effects as well as its physical and chemical qualities and structure. Drugs with the same stem share features like the conditions they treat and how they work in the body. The WHO publishes a regularly updated stem book<\/a> to keep everything in line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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