Neil M. Davis

DRUG NAMES THAT LOOK AND SOUND ALIKE

No drug name is without problems. Any name can be written or spoken poorly enough so that it can be mistaken for another. Listed in the accompanying table are drug names that can look and/or sound alike. Some are dangerously close, whereas others require incomplete prescribing information, poor communications skills, poor listening, and/or a lack of knowledge about the drugs for an error to result. To reduce errors, practitioners must share the common goal of drug name safety with pharmaceutical manufacturers, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the World Health Organization (WHO), the United States Adopted Name Council (USANC), and the United States Pharmacopeia (USP).

A Sense of History

The oldest member of Church Society’s family tree is the Protestant Association. Whilst such associations go back to the time of Elizabeth I they had had a stop-go existence usually prompted by some specific threat to the Protestantism of England and the English Church. It was such a mood which, after a few false starts, led to the creation of the Association following a meeting at Exeter Hall, London. The Association’s journal was the Protestant Magazine, first printed in February 1839. The Magazine reflects the concerns which brought the Association to life – the growing influence of Roman-catholicism and the moves to bring England back under the sway of the papacy. The first issue addressed such matters as the number of Roman-catholics in parliament and most of the early issues deal with national legislation rather than just churchy matters. The thirty two vice-presidents of the Association were all laymen, the majority being Peers or MPs.