This is probably the worst example to choose, because in the US the generic name is acetaminophen. This is a case where the brand name actually unites understanding of a drug whose chemical name differs by location.

That being said, I still agree with the spirit, let’s stick to referring to the drug and not the brand.

do you know why theres no aspirin in the jungle?

cause parrots eat em all

In France there are plenty of people who ask for Dafalgan or neurofen but have no idea what paracetamol or ibuprofen are.

I use the American brand names when talking about meds on the internet.

I’ve never taken trade-name Tylenol, Benadryl, Advil (without pseudoephedrine), Xanax, Effexor, Prozac nor Klonopin.

But those are the names I’d use when discussing them to “blend in”. If I start talking about panado or rivotril I may cause confusion. The API names are also just a fucking mouthful.

I wrote it myself. What’s wrong with it??

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Corporations have spent lots of money for their brands to be household names.

Corporations are terrified of their name becoming genericized, though. At least in the US, a company can lose it’s protection of the use of their name if they don’t fight it being used for things that are not their product. For example, “Dumpster” used to be a trademarked name for a large outdoor garage bin. It became so popular that every large outdoor garbage bin was called a dumpster, and now everyone making and selling them can call it a dumpster without getting sued

Isn’t Paracetamol a brand name for acetaminophen?

Edit: just googled it, apparently they’re both generic names for the same thing (like aspirin / acetylsalicylic acid)

Yup, that’s what the meds are called.

The only reason I’d ever use a brand name is if I genuinely need a specific brand (I have allergies so there are some brands I can’t have because of the inactive ingredients they use) or if I physically can’t pronounce the generic name.

Diclofenac is a prime example. No matter how many times I study the word and practice, I can’t stop myself from saying “dick flen ick” when I get to the chemist. Which is just so wrong. So I ask for “the generic Voltaren”

But I’m also just as likely to ask for a drug by its class if I can’t pronounce the name.

Eg: the beta blockers I used to be on, I’d have to think really, really hard to say “Propranolol” because otherwise I’d end up accidentally saying “propofol”. Not too big of a deal because obviously If I’m picking up a prescription for Propranolol and I ask for propofol the pharmacist is just going to chuckle and correct me. But to avoid it I’d just say “I’m here to pick up a my beta blocker script for, [name] [birthdate]”.

TIL that Tylenol is just how americans call paracetamol

Tylenol for example doesn’t exist in Latin America

it absolutely does, what?

that said, agreed

Of course Tylenol exists in LatAm! At least in Brazil it does…but we buy paracetamol because its cheaper

I was going to say. That was just common practice in my native country. We did use the most common brand names sometimes, but even then we used them interchangeably (if we asked for Nurofen we really meant ibuprofen and didn’t care if we got another brand; like asking for a kleenex)

generics are the exact same drug

Yes but. From what I’ve heard, sometimes when switching to a generic, there might be subtle differences in manufacturing that affect how an individual absorbs it. For something minor - an off the shelf pain killer - probably not a problem. For someone where it’s imperative that they maintain a certain blood level of the drug, some caution is a good idea.

Here in Portugal the prescriptions even say how much the generic medicine should cost, so that you immediately know if the pharmacy is trying to sell you more expensive medicine.

Got names? Most of the other options I’ve found have other nasty side effects or don’t help.

Being serious… I’d love to finda working alternate

I didn’t know we could be all snobby about allergy meds, but I learn something new everyday.

I’m a Fexofenadine Hydrochloride man myself, but I respect any second generation antihistamines and beyond.

(Actually, depending on whom you ask, Cetirizine is sometimes categorized as second generation despite its late arrival. Not sure why.)

Tell that to the copyright lawyers