NOMENCLATURE OF DRUGS ::
Drugs may be conveniently divided into two groups based on clinical practice view point
(1) Non prescription drugs which may be sold over the counter (OTC) since they are judged to be safe for use without medical supervision
(2) Prescription drugs which are considered to be unsafe for use except under medical supervision therefore they are dispensed only on a physician s prescription
Every drug has three names : (1) the chemical name (2) the approved name (non-proprietary ) and (3) the trade (proprietary brand registered ) name The chemical name gives the chemical constitution of the drug indicating the precise arrangement of atoms and atomic groups in the molecule for example the chemical name of the analgesic drug Thus chemical names are too complex to be widely used except for simple compounds like sodium bicarbonate
There are two classes of non proprietary names : (1) the official name which is used in the official book like the indian British United states or the International pharmacopoeia This name may be indentical with the generic name and (2) the Approved name same as adopted or generic name This is the name which may or may not be included in the pharmacopoeia but alternatively is the adopted name given by bodies like the united states Adopted names (USAN) Council this is an agency which adopts appropriate non proprietary names for all new drugs and was formed in 1964 The USAN Council co-ordinates with the pharmaceutical firms and other agencies like the world health Organization (WHO) and helps in adopting and standardizing the non proprietary nomenclature for drugs as far as possible
The proprietary (brand or registered or trade ) name is the exclusive property of the pharmaceutical firm which sells the drug although it may not have made the drug itself Thus a single drug may be sold under many proprietary names by different firms but regardless of this there is only one generic or official name in each country for example take the oral antidiabetic drug chlorpropamide
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