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Where Do Those Drug Names Come From Anyway?
Where Do Those Drug Names Come From Anyway?
In medicine, we’re surrounded by names. Anatomical parts are typically named by or for the person that first described them. The adductor canal in the thigh is also named Hunter’s canal, named for the famous father of scientific surgery John Hunter. Alternatively, names may derive from a description of a procedure (appendectomy literally translates to “cut out the appendix” – thank you Greek language). We’re aware of the Austin bunionectomy named for Dale Austin (despite the fact that Dr Leventen co-authored the paper1. Yes, it should be the Austin-Leventen bunionectomy). Eponyms abound. These different naming conventions make sense: why not give naming rights to a person who discovers a body part or procedure? Seems only fair.
But what about drugs? Now, that’s a different story. Names of various drugs appear on the surface to have no rhyme or reason. Some drug names are unpronounceable (think “adalimumab” or “levetiracetam”) while others are simple and obvious (like aspirin).
From the chemists’ perspective, every drug has a logical name derived from its chemical structure. Why not just name drugs using this reasonable method?
Take 4-chloro-N-furfuryl-5-sulfamoylanthranilic acid as an example. You know what drug that is, right? No? What if I show you its chemical structure? See below.
Now, you know what it is, right? Totally obvious? No? Could you imagine writing a prescription for this medication with that chemical name? It would take all day! I’d rather instead write a script for furosemide. Now, you know! That’s the generic name for the antihypertensive drug Lasix®. We went from a 46-character chemical name to a 5 character one. Ah, so much easier! There’s a good argument for simplifying names to something catchy, marketable, or at least pronounceable.
But wait again. Where does the name Lasix® come from? For that matter, what about allopurinol (Zyloprim® or Bactrim®, Lamisil® or Motrin®, Vicodin® or Lyricav)? Given there’s no law or rule to the brand naming of drugs, it really boils down to the creativity of those naming their drugs and is controlled by the FDA and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Let’s take a look at some randomly chosen names of common medications. I’ll pick one drug from various categories.
I should mention first there is a naming system for drugs in which the generic name is the International Nonproprietary Name (INN), governed by the World Health Organization. Each name has a stem, standardized by drug class. For example, -olol is the stem for beta blockers (as in propranolol). In the United States, we have our own naming system (in fact there are two – since one obviously isn’t good enough for us). These are the United States Adopted Name (USAN) and the United States Pharmacopeia (USP). This difference is how we can have the same drug in the U.S. with a different name in the UK. My favorite example is paracetamol, which is acetaminophen. Both names derive from the chemical name of para-acetylaminophenol. Interestingly, the abbreviation APAP comes from the American version of the chemical name, [N-]acetyl-para-aminophenol.
Ok, Shapiro, get to it already!
- Lasix® - This drug name is short for “lasts 6 hours” because of its 6-hour duration of action. Nice way to remember how often to prescribe this drug.
- Tylenol® - I couldn’t just discuss the generic name. Come on! Tylenol derives from a mash-up of parts of its chemical name: [N-]aceTYL-para-aminophENOL. Pretty smart, huh?
- Vicodin® - Hydrocodone is approximately 6 times stronger than codeine so VI (roman number for 6) is 6 times stronger than -codin (Codeine). Vi-codin. There’s a nice mnemonic device!
- Bactrim® - I’m not sure if this explanation is correct, but I’m going to hypothesize this antimicrobial was named as a mashup of Bac- for bacteria and -trim for trimethoprim.
- Morphine – from Morpheus, the god of dreams. Yes, young people, Morpheus isn’t just a character from the Matrix movies.
- Xarelto® - Works by inhibiting Factor Xa in the clotting cascade.
I love the creativity employed to come up with catchy names that are easy to remember. If you know other name origins write in and let us know. If we gather enough origin stories, we’ll publish them in an upcoming Practice Perfect.
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Austin DW, Leventen EO. A new osteotomy for hallux valgus: a horizontally directed" V" displacement osteotomy of the metatarsal head for hallux valgus and primus varus. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 1981 Jun;(157):25-30.
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