Look-alike and Sound-alike Drug Brand Names: A Potential Risk in Clinical Practice.

ABSTRACT

Objective: India’s pharmaceutical industry is now the third largest in the world in terms of volume. With this growth, various drugs with catchy brand names have been introduced. The potential for error due to confusing drug names amongst the healthcare personnel is significant. Numerous case reports and studies have thrown light on the confusion over similar drug names. Despite these efforts, new names that are similar to the existing names continue to be approved. Aim: The study was carried out to isolate confusing brand names, which are used currently in the Indian market and to categorize these names depending on their effect on therapeutic success. Material and methods: Recent issue of the drug formulary Indian Drug Review (IDR) (Vol. XVII Issue No. 2, March-April 2011) was referred to and all the potentially confusing brand names were analyzed. Results: Many of the brand names were similar looking (orthographic) and similar sounding (phonetic). Certain observations regarding brand naming techniques and their possible implications were noted. Conclusion: The Indian pharmaceutical industry is growing at a fast pace. Hence, India needs a competent Medication Error Reporting Program to report the brand name confusion. Also, we need to create more awareness about confusing brand names and their implications.