Similar drug names are responsible for 25% of prescription errors, according to Linda Stahl who has published an article on the topic on freep.com.
Here's some examples she gives:
Hydrocortone, a steroid used to treat skin problems sounds pretty similar to hydrocodone, a narcotic that relieves pain.
Celebrex, a painkiller, and Celexa, an antidepressant.
Zyprexa, for schizophrenia, and Zyrtec, the antihistamine.
Clonidine, a high blood pressure medication, could be confused with colchicine, a gout medicine, and clonazepam and its brand name, Klonopin, for seizures.
And for migraine people - Fiorinal is a Butalbital Compound With Codeine, that is often prescribed as migraine medicine while Florinef is a medicine for patients deficient in the production of corticosteroids.
Why these mistake are possible? Linda cites the following reasons:
- A physician intends to prescribe a new drug but spells out a similar sounding old drug out of habit.
- A pharmacist is hurried and doesn't take time to call a physician to clarify an unclear prescription.
- A hurried pharmacist using alphabetized bottles on a shelf grabs the wrong one.
- Some drugs may come in look-alike packaging.
- A faxed prescription that is blurred or smudged.
- A phoned prescription that is hard to make out because of a poor connection.
With so many drugs on the market, it got so problematic that some drug companies had to change the name of a drug - "The cholesterol-lowering drug Omacor is now called Lovaza after mix-ups with the blood-clotting drug Amicar. Also, the Alzheimer's drug Reminyl was renamed Razadyne, after mix-ups, two resulting in deaths, with a diabetes drug, Amaryl."
The moral of this story - do glance on the label before chugging down that pill. If you are not too sure that's what you are prescribed, Google the name or call your doctor for confirmation.
link: What's in a medicine name?
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