Coca Cola, McDonalds, Pepsi are three world renowned brand names.
Why would a seller of a product wish to give that product a different name?
The skeptics amongst us [of which I know there are many] may suggest that it could be to deter future sales from falling should the product get a bad rap. Someone taking Seroxat here in the UK may read an article in a newspaper or magazine about Paxil or Aropax, they may read how a patient had suffered severe withdrawal effects and how advocates were calling for the drug to be banned... or at the very least, investigated.
It's clever marketing, a stroke of genius by Glaxo's marketing team.
The average amount of time the word 'Seroxat' is searched for on the Google search engine is approx 22,200 per month. [Using a world-wide search rather than regional]
Let's take a look at the other brand names:
Aropax or Oxetine in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina and Brazil, - 8,100/390 - Total 8,490
Aroxat or Aroxat CR in Chile, 880/58 - Total 938
Cebrilin in Latin America, 1,900
Deroxat in Switzerland and France, 590
Motivan and Paroxetina in Spain, 2,900/1,600 - Total 4,500
Optipar in Finland, 260
Paroxat in Germany and Hungary, 170
Paxil or Paxil CR in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Japan and Venezuela, 673,000/33,100 - Total 706,100
Pondera in Brazil, 3,600 [Note, that Pondera is also a County in the USA]
Posivil in Chile, 260
Pexot, Paraxyle and Plasare in Pakistan, 28/0/1,300 - Total 1,328 [Note, that Plasare is also a word used in many other countries]
Paradise CR in India 480
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Hardly surprising that the UK and USA come out on top, both countries will on most search terms. If the source is correct, it baffles me why paroxetine goes by two different brands in Brazil and Chile and why it goes by three different brand names in Pakistan? All very odd yet quite genius.
There have been lawsuits against GlaxoSmithKline regarding Paxil in the USA and there is a current Group Action against GlaxoSmithKline regarding Seroxat here in the UK. How long before other countries follow?
If Glaxo had given paroxetine just one brand name then this particular SSRi would have been up there with Coca Cola, McDonalds and Pepsi.
Maybe the reason they chose to use a whole host of different brand names was to keep their product's withdrawal reactions away from the watchful eyes of other countries.
Or am I just being cynical?
Fid
Brand names taken from http://www.mindsite.com/article/28/paroxetine
Search terms courtesy of https://adwords.google.com/
Read the new book, The Evidence, However, Is Clear...The Seroxat Scandal
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'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman
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