Medications usually have both a brand (or trade) name and a generic (or chemical) name. An example is the drug
Lanoxin® which is the common brand name for digoxin. Digoxin is the generic name. After a particular brand name of a drug has been on the market
for several years, other manufacturers can make the same drug. These drugs are usually called by their chemical name and are known as generic
drugs. Generic drugs are often less expensive, and this may be desirable to you and/or your insurance company. The Federal Drug Administration
(FDA) watches over the manufacture of generic drugs carefully. In almost all cases, the generic substitutes are equal in effectiveness to the
original brand name drug. If you have any questions regarding your medications, ask your pharmacist and doctor.
In the following section, each medication category includes a list of example medications with the generic name listed first followed by the common
brand name for this medicine in parentheses.
