What's In a Drug Name? A rose might smell as sweet by any other name, but the process of naming the growing number of medications has become quite complex and serious.

摘要

Peter Pepper, PharmD, prepares parenteral parecoxib, piloting this pain preparation. Suki Sellars, summer student, shelves celecoxib and Celexa, serendipitously seeing sound similarities. Xavier Xerin, tech extraordinaire, expounds extemporaneously, "Xanax, Xigris, Zaditor, zidovudine, zileuton, zoledronate. What's with all the x's and z's?" Adrian Arlester, the pharmacist, eyes averted, only articulates, "Ada-lim-, adalim, ad ... a ... lim ... MOO...mab?"