Actually...drug naming is very rational (to a pharmacist) altho can cause problems & quite a few have had to be changed after marketing.
There are 3 names for drugs - the chemical...which is based on the international chemical naming conventions. The generic...which is based on the drug class & is determined by the variations of the chemical from the primary (first) drug within the class and is often defined by the country of origin. But in the US, the generic names must be approved by the USAN - the US Adopted Names Council which give a recommendation to the FDA. Finally...the brand name...which is strictly a marketing tool.
You are mixing a brand name (Vibramycin) with a generic name (erythromycin). Vibramycin was one of the first "once a day" antibiotics of its time - thus .... "vibrant" - altho...not given so much once daily anymore.
There are a number of steps a company has to go thru to get the brand name approved & one of the steps involves having it submitted to actual practioners - pharmacists, always, since we are the ones dispensing & depending on the drug - physicians, dentists, & sometimes specialists (psych drugs for example). There are consulting companies who do international name searches just for this reason.
Mistakes happen when drugs names become too similar since handwriting or picking a drug from a "drop down" computer menu is so easy to get mixed up. Rarely would this happen with Vibramycin & erythromycin since the strengths are so different. However...it does happen too often to not have it be a serious issue. Some of the more common errors are Reminyl/Amaryl or amrinone & amiodarone, etc....We don't worry so much when you write the rx....unless you're handwriting is horrendous. Its a problem when your office person calls in an rx & they have no idea what they're calling in & they can't read what you wrote & they can pronounce it or know the difference (glyburide & glipizide are a once a month problem).
Oh...yes - retail outpt pharmacies do carry po vanco - its more common than you think - and expensive too!
