What's in a name? Lessening the confusion over drug names.

Confusion over the similarity of drug names, either written or spoken, accounts for approximately one-quarter of all reports to the U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) Medication Errors Reporting (MER) program. This issue involves confusion between similar brand names, similar generic names, and similar brand and generic names. Such confusion is compounded by illegible handwriting, incomplete knowledge of drug names, newly available products, similar packaging or labeling, and incorrect selection of a similar name from a computerized product list.