Drugs
Name Differentiation Project
The Office of Generic Drugs requested manufacturers of sixteen look-alike name pairs to voluntarily revise the appearance of their established names in order to minimize medication errors resulting from look-alike confusion. The project spanned a two month period beginning in March 2001 and ending in May 2001. In total, 142 letters were issued for 159 applications. The letters encouraged manufacturers to supplement their applications with revised labels and labeling that visually differentiated their established names with the use of "Tall Man" letters. The following is a list of the established names involved and the recommended revisions:
Established Name Recommended Name Acetohexamide
AcetazolamideAcetaHEXAMIDE
AcetaZOLAMIDEBupropion
BuspironeBuPROPion
BusPIRoneChlorpromazine
ChlorpropamideChlorproMAZINE
ChlorproPAMIDEClomiphene
ClomipramineClomiPHENE
ClomiPRAMINECyclosporine
CycloserineCycloSPORINE
CycloSERINEDaunorubicin
DoxorubicinDAUNOrubicin
DOXOrubicinDimenhydrinate
DiphenhydramineDimenhyDRINATE
DiphenhydrAMINEDobutamine
DopamineDOBUTamine
DOPamineGlipizide
GlyburideGlipiZIDE
GlyBURIDEHydralazine
Hydromorphone
HydroxyzineHydrALAZINE
HYDROmorphone
HydrOXYzineMedroxyprogesterone MedroxyPROGESTERone Methylprednisolone
MethyltestosteroneMethylPREDNISolone
MethylTESTOSTERoneMitoxantrone MitoXANTRONE Nicardipine
NifedipineNiCARdipine
NIFEdipinePrednisone
PrednisolonePredniSONE
PrednisoLONERisperidone
Ropinirole
risperiDONE
rOPINIRoleSulfadiazine
SulfisoxazoleSulfADIAZINE
SulfiSOXAZOLETolazamide
TolbutamideTOLAZamide
TOLBUTamideVinblastine
VincristineVinBLAStine
VinCRIStine