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   goatsarah (goatsarah@thegoatery.dyndns.org)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Apr-2023 21:35:39 JST goatsarah
   What is it with Americans and their refusal to refer to medication by name, instead insisting on local brand names that the rest of us have to google to work out what the fuck they’re going on about?
   • Embed this notice
     goatsarah (goatsarah@thegoatery.dyndns.org)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Apr-2023 23:52:52 JST goatsarah

     in reply to

     • Becky is not a bear
     • Ghost of Hope
     @RenewedRebecca As @grayface_ghost said, paracetamol is not a brand name. That would be “Panadol”, which nobody calls it.
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     Becky is not a bear (renewedrebecca@oldbytes.space)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Apr-2023 23:52:54 JST Becky is not a bear

     in reply to

     @goatsarah I don't think this is a uniquely US thing... Don't Brits usually call Acetaminophen "Parmacetol" ?

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     goatsarah (goatsarah@thegoatery.dyndns.org)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Apr-2023 23:56:16 JST goatsarah

     in reply to

     • Becky is not a bear
     • Ghost of Hope
     @grayface_ghost @RenewedRebecca para-hydroxyacetanilide
     
     From which you get PARA-hydroxyaCETAnilide and then “mol” because it’s a phenol derivative,
     
     Or para-hydroxyACETAnilide and then “minophen” because it’s an amine and phenol derivative.
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     Ghost of Hope (grayface_ghost@tech.lgbt)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Apr-2023 23:56:17 JST Ghost of Hope

     in reply to

     • Becky is not a bear

     @RenewedRebecca @goatsarah Both acetaminophen and paracetamol are shortened versions of the stock names. They were both brand names about 60-70 years ago.

     Paracetamol is the international word for it though. I suspect that a lot of people outside the US wouldn't have a clue what acetaminophen was without looking it up.

     Which sort of proves Sarah's point.

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     goatsarah (goatsarah@thegoatery.dyndns.org)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Apr-2023 23:58:00 JST goatsarah

     in reply to

     • Becky is not a bear
     • Ghost of Hope
     @RenewedRebecca @grayface_ghost Paracetamol was first used as a human drug in Germany.
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     Becky is not a bear (renewedrebecca@oldbytes.space)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Apr-2023 23:58:02 JST Becky is not a bear

     in reply to

     • Ghost of Hope

     @grayface_ghost @goatsarah Does it? The "brand name" for that particular medication in the US is "Tylenol". It's only called "acetaminophen" (in the US) when it's being sold by a generic company.
     It was developed in the US though, so why would we call suddenly start call it something else?

     I mean, I just figure it's one of the weird ways language has devolved between the continents more than anything else.... We don't call trucks "lorries" or elevators "lifts" either.

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     goatsarah (goatsarah@thegoatery.dyndns.org)'s status on Thursday, 13-Apr-2023 00:04:27 JST goatsarah

     in reply to

     • Becky is not a bear
     • Ghost of Hope
     @RenewedRebecca @grayface_ghost But I digress: citalopram, cetirizine, montelukast, etc.
     
     Unambiguous. These are the names of drugs.
     
     Celexa, Zirtek, Singulair. These are product names, and often they are hyper local, or randomly change what’s in them and call it the same thing.
     
     I get why the drugs companies do it. They don’t want you buying generics whereas health systems in the rest of the planet are state funded and don’t put up with being held to ransom by big pharma.
     
     But it’s a pain in the arse for the rest of us, and also potentially dangerous when they decide they’re going to grow the brand by calling a bunch of different drugs the same thing.
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     goatsarah (goatsarah@thegoatery.dyndns.org)'s status on Thursday, 13-Apr-2023 04:51:46 JST goatsarah

     in reply to

     • Alexandra Lanes
     • Becky is not a bear
     • Ghost of Hope
     @ajlanes @RenewedRebecca @grayface_ghost There's always one ?
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     Alexandra Lanes (ajlanes@mastodon.online)'s status on Thursday, 13-Apr-2023 04:51:47 JST Alexandra Lanes

     in reply to

     • Becky is not a bear
     • Ghost of Hope

     @goatsarah @RenewedRebecca @grayface_ghost My mum did…

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     goatsarah (goatsarah@thegoatery.dyndns.org)'s status on Friday, 14-Apr-2023 20:11:26 JST goatsarah

     in reply to
     This is what I’m talking about. Those are product names. Those drugs are called “montelukast” and “cetirizine”. I do wish they’d pack this bullshit in.
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     goatsarah (goatsarah@thegoatery.dyndns.org)'s status on Friday, 14-Apr-2023 20:35:49 JST goatsarah

     in reply to
     Calpol and lemsip are not like for like. Those are products that include one or more drugs (lemsip is a cocktail), but the drug isn’t the entirety of what they are.
     
     The yanks do it for everything. Like, in the example quoted, literally any antihistamine will do, but they rush straight to one specific brand of one specific antihistamine.
     
     The only true counter example I’m aware of is salbutamol, which we almost exclusively refer to as “ventolin”, but they call “albuterol”
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     Ailbhe (ailbhe@mastodon.xyz)'s status on Friday, 14-Apr-2023 20:35:50 JST Ailbhe

     in reply to

     @goatsarah Seems unlikely they will, it would be like expecting Brits to stop referring to calpol or savlon or lemsip or alka seltzer or hoovers or biros.

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     goatsarah (goatsarah@thegoatery.dyndns.org)'s status on Friday, 14-Apr-2023 20:46:24 JST goatsarah

     in reply to
     Like, have heard of Americans going on holiday, getting unwell, and choosing to stay in pain because the pharmacy has ibuprofen, not “Advil”.
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     Ailbhe (ailbhe@mastodon.xyz)'s status on Saturday, 15-Apr-2023 02:49:58 JST Ailbhe

     in reply to

     @goatsarah it has only really been a problem for me when doctors and nurses do it TBH. If they'd stop I would be much happier.

     goatsarah likes this.
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     Ailbhe (ailbhe@mastodon.xyz)'s status on Saturday, 15-Apr-2023 02:49:59 JST Ailbhe

     in reply to

     @goatsarah I've heard similar about Brits, not just about medicines or childcare products. I'm pretty sure Irish people do it too but I don't notice because it's in my childhood vocabulary. I tend not to do it with prescription meds but do with OTC things, especially since moving here.

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     goatsarah (goatsarah@thegoatery.dyndns.org)'s status on Saturday, 15-Apr-2023 02:51:45 JST goatsarah

     in reply to
     Aspirin is a weird one because is started out as a trademark and then Bayer lost it for being naughty.
     
     And acetyl salicylic acid is a mouthful.
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     : j@fabrica:~/src; :t_blink: (josephholsten@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 15-Apr-2023 02:51:46 JST : j@fabrica:~/src; :t_blink:

     in reply to

     @goatsarah My favorite is when there are more than one formulation using the brandname. Or when people call aspirin “Bayer” as if that’s the only drug they make.