I was on call in ICU that day... During my ICU night round, I ordered T Alprazolam 0.5 mg ON for one of my patients. Half way doing round, I got a SOS call from the cardio MO, asking for help cos of failed intubation, whom I attended to stat. (In fact, got called 3 times that day/night to help out for failed intubation.. Two of thoses cases, well, actually not difficult intubation, but the junior MO unable to intubate, just that the last one from NeuroSurgery was indeed difficult intubation, with Cormack & Lehane grade 3 laryngoscopy.)! By the time I reached back ICU, the night shift nurses took over already. The nurse who was in charge of the patient whom I prescribed T Alprazolam told me that T Alprazolam was not available & she can't indent the medicine because pharmacy was closed.
Me : Are u sure we don't have tab alprazolam?
Nurse : No, we don't.
Me : I thought we have tab alprazolam in our DDA cupboard? Alprazolam is one of the commonly used DDA drugs
Nurse : No, we don't have alprazolam in our DDA cupboard.
Me : Then, what are the sedative drugs we have in the DDA cupboard at the moment?
Nurse : We have Xanax, valium, lorazepam etc..
Me : Hah? Aiyoh... Xanax is Alprazolam lah... Alprazolam is the generic name for Xanax!!
Well, some of the nurses (including doctors as well) are not familiar or get confused with the name of the drugs cos most prescription drugs have different generic (official) names & trade names (also called (brand, or specialty names). And some drugs even have few trade names - different names for different manufacturers.. Confusing for those who are not familiar with the drugs. Most of the staffs here are familiar with the trade name Xanax but not the generic name, Alprazolam. (Although both are the same thing). Well, generic names are usually more complicated & harder to remember compared to trade names. Personally, I still prefer to use generic names than trade names.
Some of the commonly used sedative drugs/medicine from the benzodiazepine group;
Trade Name (vs) Generic Name
Dormicum; Midazolam
Valium; Diazepam
Xanax; Alprazolam
Ativan; Lorazepam
Another more important group of drugs is antibiotics. It is indeed hazardous if the wrong antibiotics is served or administered especially if the staff is not familiar with both the generic & trade name..
15% of all reported medication errors between 1995 & 2000 worldwide arise from some kind of name confusion.
18 comments:
yeap.. it is recommended to use generic name, as u mentioned, different company have different trade names for the same drug, eg.. for metformin, the same drug has multiple trade names like glucophage, riomet, fortamet etc..
However,most people still like to use trade name cos it's easier & the name is shorter..
wah...
apa tu??
*blur blur.....
cheated with confusing names... ekeke
I am having cultural shock since coming back to Malaysia. I find doctors here like to use trade names, whereas in UK, we are only allowed to use generic names. The Phamarcy will dispense according to availability and relabel the drug with generic names. So now I always have to ask back what the generic names if they tell me of trade names...
Only know PCM = Panadol.
icey,
this is just the tip of the iceberg *wink*
evol,
u won't find the answers in the normal dictionary, unless u look up in medical dictionary :P
sian,
yeap, most doctors here like to use trade names instead of generic names (in my opinion, it's more advisable or better to use generic names..). Especially when dealing with antibiotics (and other drugs as well); most people will still happily use the term Flagyl insted of Metronidazole, Ciprobay instead of Ciprofloxacin, Zinacef instead of Cefuroxime, Rocephine instead of Ceftriazone, Cefobid instead of Cefoperazone etc etc...
Grace,
hahaha.. u know, I come across few patients who called PCM as KK :D Cos of the printed KK behind the PCM medicine (KK = kementerian kesihatan);
Darren,
I recalled one case that happened quite some time ago; the patient was ordered verbally to be given iv esmolol (short acting beta blocker for rapid control of ventricular rate), but she was mistakenly given iv esmeron instead(or rocuronium, aminosteroid non depolarising muscle relaxant with cardiovascular stability properties) instead..
luckily the mistake was found out fast :P
Nothing sinister happenend...
**pening** ugh...lemme revise my chem stuff
d notti,
u can find all these stuffs in pharmacology book :)
darren,
woh.. now u r interested in pharmaco already? :)
Darren,
want to become sales rep or sales executive or product specialist for drug company ah?
Chen... i used to say PCM but peoples around me didnt understand. PCM is one type of pain killer it is?
Grace,
PCM = paracetamol, the generic name for panadol.
PCM is an effective analgesic (pain killer or to relieve pain) & antipyretic (relieve fever or to lower body temperature).
It's a safe drug if not provided don't over-dosed;
darren,
have to wait till u graduate loh :) Hope your dream can come true :D
My name is Craig Hannah and i would like to show you my personal experience with Ativan.
I have taken for 6 years. I am 37 years old. GREAT FOR INSOMNIA......Great for Manic stages of Bi-Polar..It's really is the only drug I can take without any side effects..I cannot even take asprin without feeling it..I have OCD and have severe sensitivity to meds, this one is great.
Side Effects :
None.....Miracle drug...onset of 20/30 minutes, peak of 1 to 3 hrs...it will erase your memory if u take it in large doses...made that mistake once..Been on and off of it since 2001. I don't get addictive to it. I only take .05 2 x a day for controlling High Blood Pressure, Anxiety and IBS..I sometimes can get away with breaking the 0.5mg down into 4 equal doses.
I hope this information will be useful to others,
Craig Hannah
I take Lorazepam in the 0.5mg dosage about once a week. It was originally given to me in the ER when I'd had a fast heart rate due to a bad asthma attack. It helped me sleep in the hospital. Then I asked that it be prescribed so I could go on a vacation with husband, who snores. It puts me to sleep faster than he can really get to snoring, and I sleep through the night. Even if I get up once during the night I go right back to sleep. Now I take it about once a week, and it also calms any anxiety related racing thoughts that invade my sleep. I don't want to take it more than that as I don't want to form a habit with it. But it is nice to have that assurance that I'll get a good night's sleep and wake up happy.
I think Brand Name have more quality than generics.
Generic is cheaper from brand.
nice post love it
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