Let me immediately emphasize this isn't my idea. And I don't know if this has been a concept passed around before. But as I type this, I've taken a slightly extended Memorial Day weekend and to help ease somber reminders of lost loved ones (there are LOTS of vets in my families and most now gone) I chose something fun to read.
It's a book by Ann B. Ross called Miss Julia Takes the Wheel. It's part of a great series where a senior lady with no patience for unanswered questions gets involved in solving mysteries.
Anyway, as we begin this story Miss Julia is suddenly not feeling well, but spurns the idea of getting any kind of wellness Rx. She especially scorns the names of these drugs, wondering if pharmaceutical manufacturers have special divisions devoted solely to devising them. She warms up to the subject, telling her hubby:
"I can just see it," I said.... . "A group of very smart young people who've never had a pang of any kind in their lives, sitting around throwing suggestions for naming the next wonder drug. They'd want something catchy and easy to remember so patients can tell their doctors what they want.
"Except," I went on, "they're just about scraping the bottom of the barrel by now. Have you heard some of the names they've come up with? And, Sam, you know how things catch on and become part of the culture. I wouldn't be a bit surprised to be introduced some day to Ms. Otezla Jones or Miss Lyrica Smith. Maybe even to Miss Repatha Wright."
As hubby laughs Miss Julia muses to herself, "I'd not even mentioned the possibility of twin sisters named the Misses Tena and Kyleena Brown."
Of course this leads to two important questions. It's great that Ms. J remembers so many Rx names. But does she remember what each drug does?
And isn't it interesting how Ms. J only envisions all these as female names, right? How about Mr. Crestor Stephenson? Or his friend whose family came near the end of an immigration sign-in line, Elliott Zithromax?
Go ahead, folks. Add your ideas!
About Wendy Meyeroff: When she's not being silly, this author delivers a variety of interesting--but factual--print/online health and science storytelling communications to clients throughout the U.S., Canada, and beyond. She loves developing stories relating to seniors, a niche she's written for/about for most of her 20+ years. Of course Ms. Wendy respects big pharma, having worked with Merck, Allergan, AstraZeneca, and others for both B2B and B2C materials.
