Carboxymethylcellulose...
Hydroxypoxyphenylalanine...
sodelglitazar...
Xyotax (Paclitaxel Poliglumex)...
Have you ever wondered how medicines get their names?
Does someone toss a dart at a board or randomly flip through pages to dream up some name?
There IS method to the seeming madness.
"The purpose of the United States Adopted Names (USAN) Council is to serve the health professions in the United States by selecting simple, informative, and unique nonproprietary names for drugs by establishing logical nomenclature classifications based on pharmacological and/or chemical relationships.
"The USAN Council (tri-sponsored by the American Medical Association (AMA), the United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP), and the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), aims for global standardization and unification of drug nomenclature and related rules to ensure that drug information is communicated accurately and unambiguously, working closely with the International Nonproprietary Name (INN) Programme of the World Health Organization (WHO), and various national nomenclature groups."
(Just some "boring" reading... sure to enlighten you, amaze your friends, and stupefy your enemies!)
Original Post