All drugs have at least three names: the chemical name, the generic name and the proprietary name. Chemical names can be complicated and difficult to remember and are not used in this book. A generic name is a drug’s official name and the majority of drugs in this book are referred to by their generic names. The proprietary name is the name given to a drug by the manufacturing company. As the same drug can be manufactured by several different companies, a drug can have multiple proprietary names and this can be confusing. Hence, proprietary names have been avoided in this book except where the proprietary name is in common usage. In the United Kingdom, the generic name is known as the British approved name (BAN ). Following European Directive 92/27/EEC, European Law requires the use of the recommended International Non-proprietary Name (rINN). This ensures that all countries, in Europe at least, recognize the same drug. In most cases, the BAN and the rINN were the same, but some British names have been changed. For example, amphetamine is now spelt amfetamine and lignocaine is now lidocaine. Where this has happened, both names are listed in the BNF. Wherever possible, drugs should be prescribed by their generic name; this allows any suitable product to be dispensed and in many cases, it saves the health service money. The only exception to this rule is when a patient must always receive the same brand of a drug because different preparations can result in different blood levels of the drug. No details of dosages are given in this book (except in some of the case studies), because these are subject to change and often have to be varied to suit individual patients. In practice, the BNF or MIMS should be used as a guide to dosages. Examples of individual drugs have been kept to a minimum in the text, with usually just one or two examples given in each section. It would be impractical to try to remember the names of all drugs available. In practice, health care professionals quickly become familiar with drugs commonly used in their area.