What is Generic Name (Salt)?
A generic name, called the salt or formula in Pakistani pharmacies, is the active ingredient of a medicine, as opposed to the brand name it is sold under.
Updated
Meaning
English
A generic name, called the salt or formula in Pakistani pharmacies, is the active ingredient of a medicine, as opposed to the brand name it is sold under.
Roman Urdu
Generic name, jise pharmacy me salt ya formula kehte hain, dawai ka asal jaz hai, us brand name ke muqable me jis se woh bikti hai.
Also called salt, formula, active ingredient, generic.
Example
A prescription says a paracetamol brand that is out of stock. The pharmacist looks up the salt, paracetamol 500 mg, and shows the customer two other brands with the same salt and strength, at different prices.
How it works
Many brands in Pakistan carry the same salt at the same strength, at very different prices. Customers often ask "is there a cheaper one?", and doctors sometimes prescribe by brand when that brand is short. Searching stock by salt and strength lets the counter offer a substitute quickly, within the pharmacist's professional judgement and the prescriber's instructions.
Salt data is also useful for safety: two products with the same salt should not be sold together by mistake, and some salt combinations interact. Keeping salts and strengths accurate on each product is the foundation.
In Nafaa
The Nafaa pharmacy pack records each medicine's salts and strength. The salts page lists every formula the shop stocks with the brands that carry it, their price and shelf stock, its schedule, and salts that clash with each other.
Related terms
- Prescription
A prescription is a written instruction from a doctor or other licensed prescriber naming the medicines, strength, dose and duration for a patient.
- Loose Sale
A loose sale is selling part of a pack, such as single tablets from a strip, single cigarettes or a few eggs from a tray, at a per-unit price.