BPS 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Carl Duisberg, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Tylenol (Brand)
29 Jan 2016
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Generic drugs are the same quality as name brands. Same chemical substance and same dosage no matter who makes it. Must have equivalent bioavailability: same amount of drug enters the body. Bioavailability: how much drug gets in the body. The container costs more than the actual drug. The generic brands are not always cheaper than the name brands. It turns out there that it was acetanilide in the bottle. Needed to dispose of 50 tons of aminophenol. He noticed chemical similarities between two materials. Didn"t want to put oh on molecule because he thought it would cause stomach irritation. Duisberg developed a new drug called phenacetin which is a good way to treat certain types of headaches. Acetaminophen was sold as a pain reliever. It raises pain threshold: good for muscle pain. Not good for inflammation: does not inhibit prostaglandin synthesis. Not useful for rheumatoid arthritis because it involves inflammation which tylenol does not.
