Tylenol or
acetaminophen?
In my naïve years as
a teenager, I thought there was a difference. "Mom, I cannot take
acetaminophen, I have to have Tylenol." To top off my stupidity I would
pronounce it horribly wrong each time I attempted to say it. From a young age
we learn of Tylenol due to the chewable tablets I assume we all took with a
preference of cherry or grape. Grape for me. I really loved to taste and was
pretty excited to be sick and get to take some yummy grape Tylenol. I knew the
name well. It was branded to me and all children.
As we grew up and
had to start swallowing the harder pills. Less flavorful and more expensive.
But the metaphorically harder pills as well: the facts. The well-known brand
I'd come to love for healing my fevers and pain was just socially created
through a name. Acetaminophen is my true hero, not the concept provided by
Tylenol including raising my spirits and being a part of everything I do as
seen in a their common commercial (provided below). I was an adult now so I
could better understand the aspects of branding and what medication contain.
From my field
research, Extra Strength Pail Relief by CVS Health is $7.99 for 100 tablets 500
mg each and Tylenol Extra Strength $10.79 for 100 caplets 500 mg each. The
children's medication also increase in price from the CVS Health Acetaminophen
to Tylenol. There was a steady increase in price as the ages on the boxes
increase for both brands. This is just a few examples from one store so of
course this does not justify what I am saying but they are viable examples.
Acetaminophen is the
key ingredient in Tylenol. It is a pain reliever as well as a fever reducer. It
belongs to a class of drugs named analgesics and antipyretics which relieve
pain and reduce fever respectively. Drug companies create a brand name that trademarks
their medications for a certain period of time. After that time period, generic
brand names can then sell that medicine under a different name. As we can see
from my field work (the picture provided below) there is more than one pain
reliever pill other than Tylenol. There is a bunch of "different"
acetaminophen pills which are different simply through branding and packaging.
This is what
marketing and capital have come to. Producers all sell the same thing but
everything is priced differently due to branding and packages. This means that
people who are unaware of these concepts will be paying more money than is
necessary. I believe this is both a problem of the public and of producers. The
public should be aware of these little scams and not partake in putting extra
money where it doesn't need to go. Producers should not be using the ignorance
of the American people to make more money off of things that should be easily
accessible for a lower price. I believe the problem lies more on the side of
the public. If we stop buying the more expensive drugs that are the same thing
as generic drugs, the more expensive drugs will not be sold any more due to
simple supply and demand economics. However there goes the jobs of people at
Tylenol so what really is the right thing to do?
You Raised Her
Spirits:
Field Research:
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