I Knew It: The Evil FDA is Behind the Crazy Sounding Names for New Drugs

The central planning nut jobs actually reject 4 out of 10 names!

From the International Business Times (via Business Insider):

The main reason why perscription drugs have such crazy names

If drugs like Celebrex, which is used to treat arthritis, and Celexa, an antidepressant, look and sound too much alike, pharmacists and nurses can easily confuse a doctor’s orders. The Food and Drug Administration is increasingly wary of this danger, making it harder than ever for pharmaceutical companies and branding experts to dream up a name that the agency will approve.

The heightening challenge explains why prescription drugs notoriously carry some of the most obscure brand names in business. In recent weeks, the FDA approved Celecoxib, Linezolid and Metaxalone -- names that don't exactly roll off the tongue. But despite their irregular appearance, there's a logic to the process. Drug names often contain subtle linguistic cues that are the product of a high-stakes creative exercise that marries the magic of marketing with consumer psychology and scientific testing.

Developing brand names for medicines is a careful dance between marketing experts and scrutinizers at the FDA, who reject about four out of 10 proposed brand names for new drugs.

In what other sector do people confuse names, other than in the pharmaceutical sector, where the government approves the names? Does anyone confuse Apple with Microsoft or Uber with a Yellow Cab or Baskin Robbins with Häagen-Dazs, United Airlines with Jet Blue, McDonald's with Burger King or Denny's, EPJ with NYT?

Only in the government approved name sector do you find hard to remember, confusing names?

-RW