![[OC] Anyone else insist on using the generic name for all meds?](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/6f334501-aaf9-46be-9396-c4b8c0616870.png){kind=link}
- cross-posted to:
- autism@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- autism@lemmy.world
Image: 4 panels organized in a rectangle following a sequential order like a comic strip. The first panel is of a man with a very serious face stating, “Hey man, got any diphenhydramine?” The second panel is a grainy picture of the actor Robert Downey Jr. with a slightly inquisitive face and saying, “What’s that?” The third panel is an identical copy of the first image and saying, “Benadryl the allergy medicine.” The fourth and final panel is a grainy picture of Bobby rolling his eyes and taking a deep breath.
Edit: Tony Start -> Robert Downey Jr. I didn’t know that Tony Stark was a character Robert Downey Jr. played 🤦♂️
ITT: Americans who can’t fathom generic medicine names
Tylenol isn’t the medicine, paracetamol is. I love having grown up in a European country which mandates pharmacies to very clearly inform you, not just in some fuck ass place, but repeat to you 3 times, that there is a cheaper generic version which does the same thing.
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.
Except we don’t have Tylenol in most countries where it’s called paracetamol.
We have Panadol, Panamax, Calpol, Herron and Hedanol.
If it wasn’t for ER, Scrubs, Greys Anatomy and a bunch of other American media, I’d have no idea that Tylenol and acetaminophen are the same thing as Panadol and paracetamol.
Standard Tylenol and standard Panadol are different dosages too. Regular strength Tylenol is 325mg, standard Panadol (and every other paracetamol brand I’ve seen for adults) is 500mg, which is the “extra strength” of Tylenol.
We have enough liver problems in the US without pushing more acetaminophen/paracetamol on people. 😅
Touché, though I love knowing names like paracetamol or acetaminophen, ibuprofen, diclofenac, acetylsalicylic acid etc.
I can’t come up with many names because I don’t remember every single drug, but when I see a drug, I always read the chemical, never the brand, and I’m glad for my country and my parents for that.
I particularly like knowing acetylsalicylic acid because knowing that name helps you understand why really old bottles of Aspirin smell like vinegar: the acetic acid and the salicylic acid have begun to separate, and acetic acid is the active ingredient in vinegar!
do you know why theres no aspirin in the jungle?
cause parrots eat em all
Y’see, I would have said “parrots ate 'em all”. It still works.
do you pronounce it ceet or cet in the actual drug name
I know it as “ceet”, but my language pronounces that part as “tset”.
portugese?
lithuanian?
Lithuanian, you got it right! Though you could’ve guessed any Slavic language too, so it’s weird you picked Lithuanian
it is weird- I mean I also picked portugese and that had nothing to do with anything
In France there are plenty of people who ask for Dafalgan or neurofen but have no idea what paracetamol or ibuprofen are.
Yeah, there are clueless people everywhere, but I’m still glad that it’s easy to get generic medicine.
To be fair, you cannot force people to buy generic, let people make their own, though preferably informed, decisions.