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Identical or similar brand names used in different countries for medications with different active ingredients: a descriptive analysis.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE:To identify US drug brand (proprietary) names that are identical or similar to drug brand names used in other countries containing different active ingredients and name confusion medication errors associated with these drugs. METHODS:We compared a list of brand names approved by the US Food and Drug Administration from 2006 through 2018 with a list of brand names from other countries generated by Uppsala Monitoring Centre using the WHODrug Dictionary. We evaluated drug name pairs that were identical or highly similar and had different active ingredients and searched for name confusion medication errors with these drugs. RESULTS:A total of 27 US brand names were found to be identical to 38 drug brand names in other countries with different active ingredients. A total of 74 US drug brand names were highly similar to 93 brand names in other countries for drugs containing different active ingredients. We identified name confusion medication errors for one similar name pair. CONCLUSIONS:US drug brand names that are identical to or highly similar to brand names in other countries may cause confusion that can lead to medication errors such as wrong drug errors and wrong drug information being consulted. Manufacturers should consider this risk prior to submitting proposed brand names to regulatory authorities. Regulatory authorities may consider incorporating this check in their brand name reviews and work with manufacturers to eliminate the use of the same or similar brand names for products with different ingredients. Consumers filling prescriptions at foreign pharmacies should also be aware of potential name confusion.

SUBMITTER: Merchant L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7606210 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Identical or similar brand names used in different countries for medications with different active ingredients: a descriptive analysis.

Merchant Lubna L Lutter Randall R Chang Sherry S

BMJ quality & safety 20200427 12

<h4>Objective</h4>To identify US drug brand (proprietary) names that are identical or similar to drug brand names used in other countries containing different active ingredients and name confusion medication errors associated with these drugs.<h4>Methods</h4>We compared a list of brand names approved by the US Food and Drug Administration from 2006 through 2018 with a list of brand names from other countries generated by Uppsala Monitoring Centre using the WHODrug Dictionary. We evaluated drug n ...[more]

PMID: 32341076

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Project description:This meta-analysis aimed to compare the efficacy and adverse events, either serious or mild/moderate, of all generic versus brand-name cardiovascular medicines. We searched randomized trials in MEDLINE, Scopus, EMBASE, Cochrane Controlled Clinical Trial Register, and ClinicalTrials.gov (last update December 1, 2014). Attempts were made to contact the investigators of all potentially eligible trials. Two investigators independently extracted and analyzed soft (including systolic blood pressure, LDL cholesterol, and others) and hard efficacy outcomes (including major cardiovascular adverse events and death), minor/moderate and serious adverse events. We included 74 randomized trials; 53 reported ≥1 efficacy outcome (overall sample 3051), 32 measured mild/moderate adverse events (n = 2407), and 51 evaluated serious adverse events (n = 2892). We included trials assessing ACE inhibitors (n = 12), anticoagulants (n = 5), antiplatelet agents (n = 17), beta-blockers (n = 11), calcium channel blockers (n = 7); diuretics (n = 13); statins (n = 6); and others (n = 3). For both soft and hard efficacy outcomes, 100 % of the trials showed non-significant differences between generic and brand-name drugs. The aggregate effect size was 0.01 (95 % CI -0.05; 0.08) for soft outcomes; -0.06 (-0.71; 0.59) for hard outcomes. All but two trials showed non-significant differences in mild/moderate adverse events, and aggregate effect size was 0.07 (-0.06; 0.20). Comparable results were observed for each drug class and in each stratified meta-analysis. Overall, 8 serious possibly drug-related adverse events were reported: 5/2074 subjects on generics; 3/2076 subjects on brand-name drugs (OR 1.69; 95 % CI 0.40-7.20). This meta-analysis strengthens the evidence for clinical equivalence between brand-name and generic cardiovascular drugs. Physicians could be reassured about prescribing generic cardiovascular drugs, and health care organization about endorsing their wider use.

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Identical or similar brand names used in different countries for medications with different active ingredients: a descriptive analysis.

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Identical or similar brand names used in different countries for medications with different active ingredients: a descriptive analysis.

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