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KHN Quiz: Drug or Not a Drug?

KHN illustration / Getty Images

Face it: Drug names can be kooky. And Comirnaty — the brand-new brand name for the Pfizer-BioNTech covid vaccine — is a candidate for the kookiest. Who hasn’t stumbled over names of prescription drugs, even those you take daily, when put on the spot by a doctor or pharmacist? Take this tongue-in-cheek quiz to see how many brand-name drug names you can pick out from the decoys.

By Terry Byrne

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1

Which is a brand-name drug — and not the name of an angel or a character from Star Trek or Pokémon GO?

— Agrylin (anagrelide) helps prevent blood clots from forming and is used to treat a blood cell disorder called thrombocythemia, or thrombocytosis, which occurs when your body produces too many platelet cells.

2

Which is a brand-name drug — and not the name of a star, anime character or subatomic particle?

— Bebulin (coagulation Factor IX human) is an injectable drug to help prevent and control hemorrhagic episodes in hemophilia B patients.

3

Which is a brand-name drug — and not the name of a Dr. Seuss character, herb or Irish lad?

— Lorbrena was approved by the Food and Drug Administration last year to treat people with non-small cell lung cancer. No generic yet.

4

Which is a brand-name drug — and not the name of an extinct language, comics villain or rock?

— Nerlynx (neratinib) treats early-stage, HER2-positive breast cancer for an extended time after surgery.

5

Which is a brand-name drug — and not the name of an arcade game, a generic drug or a Lord of the Rings character?

— Krystexxa IV (pegloticase) treats chronic gout. The IV is not the Roman numeral "4" but an abbreviation for intravenous — a clue!

6

Which is a brand-name drug — and not the name of a rock band, Ty Beanie Baby or biblical Old Testament name?

— Sculptra Aesthetic (injectable poly-L-lactic acid) treats facial wrinkles and nasolabial folds.

7

Which is a brand-name drug — and not the name of an exoplanet, a mountain peak, or a tree toad or butterfly?

— Kazano (alogliptin/metformin) treats Type 2 diabetes.

8

Which is a brand-name drug — and not the name of a pop singer, marble or car company?

— Pazeo (olopatadine) are antihistamine drops that treat eye itching caused by pink eye (allergic conjunctivitis).

9

Which is a brand-name drug — and not the name of a bowling ball brand, programming language or Renaissance painter?

— Geodon (ziprasidone) treats schizophrenia. It's used as monotherapy for the acute treatment of bipolar manic or mixed episodes, and as an adjunct to lithium or valproate for the maintenance treatment of bipolar disorder.

10

Which is a brand-name drug — and not the name of a Harry Potter spell, constellation, lighting company, drug company or coral reef?

— Lumigan (bimatoprost) treats glaucoma. Have you seen the light?

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KHN Quiz: Drug or Not a Drug?

You Answered out of 10 Questions Correctly.

Question

Correct Response

1

Which is a brand-name drug — and not the name of an angel or a character from Star Trek or Pokémon GO?

— Agrylin (anagrelide) helps prevent blood clots from forming and is used to treat a blood cell disorder called thrombocythemia, or thrombocytosis, which occurs when your body produces too many platelet cells.

Agrylin (anagrelide) helps prevent blood clots from forming and is used to treat a blood cell disorder called thrombocythemia, or thrombocytosis, which occurs when your body produces too many platelet cells. Aggron is a steel/rock Gen 3 Pokémon, the second evolution of Aron. Anxo is the Galician/Portuguese word for "angel" or "messenger." And to Trekkies, Alixus is the leader of a colony that settled on planet Orellius in 2360. She was responsible for several deaths because she rejected any form of technologically based medicine. You can try confirming this with Alexa, but she may not discuss it because Alixus is ahead of her time.

2

Which is a brand-name drug — and not the name of a star, anime character or subatomic particle?

— Bebulin (coagulation Factor IX human) is an injectable drug to help prevent and control hemorrhagic episodes in hemophilia B patients.

Bebulin (coagulation Factor IX human) is an injectable drug to help prevent and control hemorrhagic episodes in hemophilia B patients. The anime arch wizard Megumin descended from crimson demons and knows only one skill: an explosive magic spell that instantly incapacitates her for the rest of the day. Check your co-workers for any Megumin blood. In particle physics, a dilaton is a theoretical scalar field (analogous to the photon). Diadem is a star visible to the naked eye in the constellation Coma Berenices. Alpha Comae Berenices was the name assigned to the star by Johann Bayer in 1603. Not the aspirin guy.

3

Which is a brand-name drug — and not the name of a Dr. Seuss character, herb or Irish lad?

— Lorbrena was approved by the Food and Drug Administration last year to treat people with non-small cell lung cancer. No generic yet.

Lorbrena was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2018 to treat people with non-small-cell lung cancer. No generic available yet in the U.S. Lorcan is an Irish name meaning "little fierce one." Lovage is an herb that tastes like a cross between celery and parsley — great with seafood or to flavor stocks and soups. And if you don't know the Lorax, you might be part of the problem and not the solution when it comes to climate change.

4

Which is a brand-name drug — and not the name of an extinct language, comics villain or rock?

— Nerlynx (neratinib) treats early-stage, HER2-positive breast cancer for an extended time after surgery.

Nerlynx (neratinib) treats early-stage, HER2-positive breast cancer for an extended time after surgery. The Lycian language (𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊍𐊆 Trm̃mili) was spoken by the ancient Lycians of the region known as Lycia in Anatolia, present-day Turkey, during the Iron Age. The name Modok, one of the more bizarre-looking villains in the Marvel Universe, is an acronym for Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing. And scoria, which comes in black or red, is a highly porous basaltic lava rock found all over North America. The red variety, which landscapers call lava rock, has commonly been used in pebble form outside Taco Bells.

5

Which is a brand-name drug — and not the name of an arcade game, a generic drug or a Lord of the Rings character?

— Krystexxa IV (pegloticase) treats chronic gout. The IV is not the Roman numeral "4" but an abbreviation for intravenous — a clue!

Krystexxa IV (pegloticase) treats chronic gout. The IV is not the Roman numeral "4" but an abbreviation for intravenous — a clue! Tramadol is a generic painkiller that used to be a brand name — a red herring! Lindir is an Elf of unknown kindred residing in Rivendell (from the Lord of the Rings franchise because this is a quiz designed for nerds). And Amidar is a maze game similar to Pac-Man that came out in 1981 for the Atari 2600 console.

6

Which is a brand-name drug — and not the name of a rock band, Ty Beanie Baby or biblical Old Testament name?

— Sculptra Aesthetic (injectable poly-L-lactic acid) treats facial wrinkles and nasolabial folds.

Sculptra Aesthetic (injectable poly-L-lactic acid) treats facial wrinkles and nasolabial folds. Uniqua is a character — and species — from the Nickelodeon show "The Backyardigans" that was released as a Beanie Baby in 2005. Primus is a funk metal band based in San Francisco featuring slap-bassist Les Claypool on such notable tunes as "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver." Tirzah, a Hebrew name meaning "she is my delight," figured in the Bible as one of Zelophehad's five daughters; after his death, they appealed for and won hereditary rights.

7

Which is a brand-name drug — and not the name of an exoplanet, a mountain peak, or a tree toad or butterfly?

— Kazano (alogliptin/metformin) treats Type 2 diabetes.

Kazano (alogliptin/metformin) treats Type 2 diabetes. Malabar, a region in India, can refer to the Malabar tree toad (or warty Asian tree toad), an amphibian found in stream-rich forests along India's Western Ghats mountain range. The same-named tree nymph is a large "paper kite" butterfly that glides above the Indian tree canopy. Climbing Trivor, a mountain peak in northern Pakistan with an elevation of nearly 25,000 feet, could surely cause altitude sickness. Tadmor, whose discovery in 1988 as the first planet outside our solar system was rejected in 1992 and then reinstated in 2002 (Pluto much?), is a gas giant that dwarfs Jupiter and orbits an orange star 45 light-years away. The name also has biblical roots as a city built by Solomon "in the wilderness."

8

Which is a brand-name drug — and not the name of a pop singer, marble or car company?

— Pazeo (olopatadine) are antihistamine drops that treat eye itching caused by pink eye (allergic conjunctivitis).

Pazeo (olopatadine) are antihistamine drops that treat eye itching caused by pink eye (allergic conjunctivitis). Clambroth is a type of marble, named for a type of glass popular in the Victorian era — a grayish color that's somewhat opaque, like clam broth. Gurgel was a Brazilian automaker that specialized in buggies and off-road vehicles. Its first brand was the fiberglass Ipanema, which launched the company in 1969 until it stalled in 1994. Dalida, born Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti in Egypt, was a French singer and actress whose career arose after she was crowned Miss Egypt in 1954. In 1987, she died by suicide.

9

Which is a brand-name drug — and not the name of a bowling ball brand, programming language or Renaissance painter?

— Geodon (ziprasidone) treats schizophrenia. It's used as monotherapy for the acute treatment of bipolar manic or mixed episodes, and as an adjunct to lithium or valproate for the maintenance treatment of bipolar disorder.

Geodon (ziprasidone) treats schizophrenia. It's used as monotherapy for the acute treatment of bipolar manic or mixed episodes, and as an adjunct to lithium or valproate for the maintenance treatment of bipolar disorder. Motiv is a brand of bowling balls. Titian was a Venetian Renaissance painter known for his religious works and the use of expressive color. Wikipedia says Averest is a "synchronous programming language and set of tools to specify, verify and implement reactive systems," if you get that gist.

10

Which is a brand-name drug — and not the name of a Harry Potter spell, constellation, lighting company, drug company or coral reef?

— Lumigan (bimatoprost) treats glaucoma. Have you seen the light?

Lumigan (bimatoprost) treats glaucoma, but can change your eye color — magic! Lumos! is a spell from the Harry Potter franchise that illuminates the tip of the caster's wand. The counter-charm is Nox! — turning it off again. Lumens is a lighting company (because a lumen is a unit of luminous flux that measures how much light something emits). The Lyra Reef lies northeast of Papua New Guinea, where waters maintain a temperature of 77-86 degrees Fahrenheit year-round. And Lyra Therapeutics is a drug company that targets ear, nose and throat (ENT) diseases — surprisingly, not diseases of the eye. It's also the name of the beloved niece of one of KHN's web producers. Photos of her have helped us get through some tough tasks, like writing this quiz.