List of Confused Drug Names

Posted in RESOURCES

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP
Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare

ISMP’s List of Confused Drug Names contains look-alike and sound-alike (LASA) name pairs of medications that have been published in the ISMP Medication Safety Alert!® Acute Care, the ISMP Medication Safety Alert!® Community/Ambulatory Care, and the FDA and ISMP Lists of Look-Alike Drug Names with Recommended Tall Man Letters.[1]  

Use this list to determine which medications require special safeguards to reduce the risk of errors and minimize harm. This may include strategies such as:

  • Using both the brand and generic names on prescriptions and labels
  • Including the purpose of the medication on prescriptions
  • Configuring computer systems to require a minimum of the first five letters of a drug name during product searches
  • Changing the appearance of look-alike product names to draw attention to their differences

Both the FDA-approved and the ISMP-recommended tall man (mixed case) letters have been included in this list (14 pages).

[Note: you will need to register to download the list, but that registration is free for this valuable resource.  Scroll down the landing page to find the link to register.]

Here’s an excerpt from page 1:

This list of confused drug names, which includes look-alike and sound-alike name pairs, consists of those name pairs that have been published in the ISMP Medication Safety Alert!® Acute Care, the ISMP Medication Safety Alert!® Community/Ambulatory Care, and the FDA and ISMP Lists of Look-Alike Drug Names with Recommended Tall Man Letters. We hope you will use this list to determine which medications require special safeguards to reduce the risk of errors. This may include strategies such as: using both the brand and generic names on prescriptions and labels; including the purpose of the medication on prescriptions; configuring computer systems to require a minimum of the first five letters of a drug name during product searches to limit similar names from appearing together on the same screen; and changing the appearance of look-alike product names to draw attention to their differences. Both the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved and the ISMP-recommended tall man (mixed case) letters have been included in this list.

The list was updated in February 2023.

[1] Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP). ISMP List of Confused Drug Names. ISMP; 2023.