There is a tendency on the part of members of the medical profession to specify on prescriptions the preparation of some particular manufacturer. When there is any reasonable cause of advantage to the patient, there should be no hesitation in so doing, but the more familiar one becomes with medicines the more one becomes convinced that there is seldom a necessity for this practice. There was a time when it was frequently advisable, but the present State and National drug laws and the present status of pharmaceutical education have practically forced a uniformly high standard in manufacturing. Promiscuous specifying of special makes is usually a sign of ignorance or gullibility rather than of superior information. Another fact is that if a certain manufacturer puts out one preparation superior to that of competitors it is no indication that the other preparations of that make are above the average.

As a general rule it may be stated that in prescribing the agents included in the Pharmacopoeia and National Formulary, it is best not to specify a particular make.