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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Drugs

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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
Acetazolamide
AcetaHEXAMIDE
AcetaZOLAMIDE
Bupropion
Buspirone
BuPROPion
BusPIRone
Chlorpromazine
Chlorpropamide
ChlorproMAZINE
ChlorproPAMIDE
Clomiphene
Clomipramine
ClomiPHENE
ClomiPRAMINE
Cyclosporine
Cycloserine
CycloSPORINE
CycloSERINE
Daunorubicin
Doxorubicin
DAUNOrubicin
DOXOrubicin
Dimenhydrinate
Diphenhydramine
DimenhyDRINATE
DiphenhydrAMINE
Dobutamine
Dopamine
DOBUTamine
DOPamine
Glipizide
Glyburide
GlipiZIDE
GlyBURIDE

Hydralazine

Hydromorphone
Hydroxyzine

HydrALAZINE

HYDROmorphone
HydrOXYzine

Medroxyprogesterone MedroxyPROGESTERone
Methylprednisolone
Methyltestosterone
MethylPREDNISolone
MethylTESTOSTERone
Mitoxantrone MitoXANTRONE
Nicardipine
Nifedipine
NiCARdipine
NIFEdipine
Prednisone
Prednisolone
PredniSONE
PrednisoLONE

Risperidone

Ropinirole

risperiDONE
rOPINIRole
Sulfadiazine
Sulfisoxazole
SulfADIAZINE
SulfiSOXAZOLE
Tolazamide
Tolbutamide
TOLAZamide
TOLBUTamide
Vinblastine
Vincristine
VinBLAStine
VinCRIStine

 

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