Current Events > Doctors of CE: Why can't my doctors get my prescription names right?

(+) Yeah! (+)

They ask me if I take a bunch of stuff I've never heard of, I tell them no.

I give them a list of what I take, they get annoyed and are like "These are the same just different names!"

Well...how the fuck am I supposed to know that? Shouldn't they know what I'm actually taking? Why is it listed under different names in my chart?

Before you ask, these are the same doctors who prescribed everything I'm taking, so it isn't like they shouldn't have known.

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Say that to the doc, now us.

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They're probably using the brand name and you call it by the generic, or vice versa.

You should probably know what the generic name of your prescription meds are, because you may in the future run into a situation where you really need your medication but the pharmacy near you doesn't have the on brand version.

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Sounds like a brand vs. generic issue. Doctors speak brand names, pharmacists speak generic.

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Super Saiyan 3 Goku posted...

Sounds like a brand vs. generic issue. Doctors speak brand names, pharmacists speak generic.

Incorrect. I only use generic names.


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Doctor signature.

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Super Saiyan 3 Goku posted...

Sounds like a brand vs. generic issue. Doctors speak brand names, pharmacists speak generic.

Ahhh okay that makes sense I guess.

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Aren't brand names easier to remember? I'd imagine average Joe says he takes Advil not ibuprofen.

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Squall28 posted...

Aren't brand names easier to remember? I'd imagine average Joe says he takes Advil not ibuprofen.

This unfortunately is true.

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Squall28 posted...

Aren't brand names easier to remember? I'd imagine average Joe says he takes Advil not ibuprofen.

The thing is, some of my prescriptions have both names, but then a few of them apparently don't?

It's weird.

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Squall28 posted...

Aren't brand names easier to remember? I'd imagine average Joe says he takes Advil not ibuprofen.

You gotta look at the back. Compare brand names to a generic, They will typically match equally.

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Super Saiyan 3 Goku posted...

Sounds like a brand vs. generic issue. Doctors speak brand names, pharmacists speak generic.

Brand names shouldn't even be legal for any essential/semi essential medication.

One fucking name for a medicine. All this stupid brand name shit does is cause confusion and price gauge people.

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do you mean like how there is the generic term and the brand name . example: ambien and zolpidem are the same thing. like if he asked you if you were on a certain drug and you were but you know if by the other name.

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DarkRoast posted...

Incorrect. I only use generic names.

Good for you for being the exception. Doctors I know use brand names.

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Super Saiyan 3 Goku posted...

Good for you for being the exception. Doctors I know use brand names.

Most of the doctors I work with use generics.

I'm a doctor - some brand names are just not ones we hear often enough to become familiar with. But if your doctor is getting annoyed by that, they probably just hate their life already.

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they wont reauthorize your scrips until you see them.

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Super Saiyan 3 Goku posted...

Good for you for being the exception. Doctors I know use brand names.

Most I know use generics.

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The pharmacy is able to substitute any prescription for the generic equivalent so long as "DAW" or "dispense as written" isn't checked off or written on the prescription for a brand name medication. So, if a doctor writes 'Lipitor 20mg daily", I can dispense the generic atorvastatin instead.

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Super Saiyan 3 Goku posted...

Sounds like a brand vs. generic issue. Doctors speak brand names, pharmacists speak generic.

So you call it piperacillin/tazobactam every time?

Squall28 posted...

Aren't brand names easier to remember? I'd imagine average Joe says he takes Advil not ibuprofen.

Wtf, never knew these 2 were the same, though I know they produce similar effects of course.

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Shablagoo posted...

Wtf, never knew these 2 were the same, though I know they produce similar effects of course.

Yup. Same thing.

Aleve and Naproxen are the same. Tylenol and Acetaminophen are the same.

Hummer 2 posted...

So you call it piperacillin/tazobactam every time?

A lot of my pharmacist colleagues say "Pip/tazo" so, yes, there are a few of us. I say Zosyn for that one. But for the doctors I work with in the hospital:

Warfarin is Coumadin
Apixaban is Eliquis
Levofloxacin is Levaquin
Glargine is Lantus
etc etc

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SauI_Goodman posted...

do you mean like how there is the generic term and the brand name . example: ambien and zolpidem are the same thing. like if he asked you if you were on a certain drug and you were but you know if by the other name.

Okay so I take Levothyroxine (the main name on the label) for a thyroid issue, it says under that name on the label it's a generic for Levoxyl, but they always call it synthoid when they go over my medications.

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KillerSlaw posted...

Okay so I take Levothyroxine (the main name on the label) for a thyroid issue, it says under that name on the label it's a generic for Levoxyl, but they always call it synthoid when they go over my medications.

Thats definitely unusual. All the doctors and other pharmacists I know and work with call it levothyroxine unless a patient requires brand name Synthroid.

ask for generics.

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Super Saiyan 3 Goku posted...

A lot of my pharmacist colleagues say "Pip/tazo" so, yes, there are a few of us. I say Zosyn for that one. But for the doctors I work with in the hospital:

Warfarin is Coumadin
Apixaban is Eliquis
Levofloxacin is Levaquin
Glargine is Lantus
etc etc

Weird flex but everyone needs to feel good about something I guess.

KillerSlaw posted...

Okay so I take Levothyroxine (the main name on the label) for a thyroid issue, it says under that name on the label it's a generic for Levoxyl, but they always call it synthoid when they go over my medications.

Not really a problem there so long as the pharmacy isn't billing your insurance for brand name Levoxyl/Synthroid instead of levothyroxine.

Weird flex but everyone needs to feel good about something I guess.

Could be worse - rather than "statin", I could say "HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor."

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Ooooooranges posted...

I'm a doctor - some brand names are just not ones we hear often enough to become familiar with. But if your doctor is getting annoyed by that, they probably just hate their life already.

Yeah the doctor just sounds like an asshole and not in it to help others

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USA doctors are mostly assholes nowadays.

though hospital staff are cool.

I'd know, my dad nearly died of sepsis.

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