One drug‐one name

The dilemma in which the medical profession finds itself regarding drug terminology is causing considerable confusion. Many in the pharmaceutical industry are certain that the trade‐name program is absolutely essential for its well‐being. They feel that it is essential to protect them from inroads on their products by other pharmaceutical firms which have not devoted the expense, time, and effort that go into research and development of useful new entities. Furthermore, drug manufacturers with a certain degree of pride and good reason feel that a trade name on which they have spent a great deal of effort also places them in a position of responsibility in that the product put out under their trade name must be of the highest quality or they are likely to suffer in competition, particularly if the trade name becomes discredited by imperfect or poor products. On the other hand, there is a large and rapidly growing group who feel that the use of the trade name leads to a certain amount of abuse in that it permits the manufacturer to continue to receive rather excessive profits on trade name drugs, through protection by copyright of the names of drugs, which for the most part have long since been made available to others in the industry and which can usually be sold cheaper than the trade‐named article. This group feels that all prescriptions should be written in nonproprietary or generic terminology, thereby permitting the pharmacist to dispense the drugs as the usually less expensive non‐trade named item. For this reason, in some places, the proponents of nonproprietary terminology have actually gone so far as to insist that welfare prescriptions be written in that terminology.