From Mr A. D. Asher, FRPharmS
SIR,-Welcome Mr Longshaw (PJ, June 17, p914), fellow pharmacist of a certain age, from another such, to the world of marketing and a war indeed lost long ago. Some of the battles on the way could be listed as:
Golden eye ointment - not a trace of mercury but propamidine isethionate (however, Golden eye ointment, to quote, "is a well trusted name known to our grandparents").
Benadryl allergy relief capsules - not a trace of diphenhydramine but acrivastine (a battle lost in January, 1998, when they were first introduced).
Daktarin gold cream - not a trace of miconazole but ketoconazole.
Brand names are now in this post-black-list world that we all inhabit not descriptive of a substance but a marketing tool used to sell P or GSL products to customers. Still, as England's greatest wordsmith noted "What's in a name?" and indeed "A rose by any other name".
Allan Asher London E18