# Fictional Drug or Disease Names **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 28, 2008, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057 "2008-03-28T16:06:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pine_Fresh_Scent)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/1 "2008-03-28T16:06:42Z")
In the first _Robocop_ movie, one of the plot devices was the illegal drug called “Nuke”. I always thought the writers could have done better than “Nuke” for the name. Why couldn’t they have used any of the hundred real street names for heroin or meth? “Nuke” sounds like what a third-grader would come up with. For a similar example, in \*The Stand \* the super flu that escapes the government lab takes on the name “Captain Trips”. I think King could have done much better with the name. I just found one more from _Outbreak_: “Motaba”, obviously based on “Ebola”. I think this name works well and isn’t too conspicuous. Does anybody have more examples of fictional drug names or diseases? What would you change them to if you could? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/2 "2008-03-28T16:11:41Z")
My favorite: **Ephemerol** in Cronenberg’s **Scanners**. It was a tranquilizer that had a nasty side effect – when given to pregnant women they produced babies with psychic abilities. They produced some great 1940s-era advertising copy for Ephemerol for the film ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/3 "2008-03-28T16:16:11Z")
Shortly after “child proof” bottle caps appeared on the market, Saturday Night Live had a parody commercial for a pain reliever called “Triopenin”. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/4 "2008-03-28T16:17:59Z")
I always thought the fake drug Provasic from _The Fugitive_ sounded very real. …and, once again [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_medicines_and_drugs) takes the joy out of discovery. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/5 "2008-03-28T16:24:52Z")
\*\*GLeeMONEX \*\* - From The Kids in the Hall’s _Brain Candy_. “Gleemonex makes you feel like it’s 72 degrees in your head, all the time.” ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/6 "2008-03-28T16:29:20Z")
I always thought that “The Red Death” was a good disease name. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/7 "2008-03-28T16:30:46Z")
Unfortunately, Wikipedia’s list of [fictional diseases](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_diseases) omits The Green Death, which in Vonnegut’s _Slapstick_ is caused by inhaling microscopic Chinese people. The Chinese have shrunk themselves to microscopic size to reduce resource consumption and … Well, it doesn’t really get much more sensible. The Green Death wipes out most of the population of the US, and the survivors devolve into a bizarre feudal system, in which Wilbur Daffodil-11 Swain becomes the King of Manhattan and builds an impressive collection of candlesticks. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/8 "2008-03-28T16:36:46Z")
[The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases](http://www.amazon.com/Thackery-Lambshead-Eccentric-Discredited-Diseases/dp/1892389541) examines a long list of ailments such as Ballistic Organ Syndrome, Noumenal Fluke, Hsing’s Spontaneous Self-Flaying Sarcoma, Poetic Lassitude, and Mongolian Death Worm Infestation. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/9 "2008-03-28T16:37:52Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] My favorite: **Ephemerol** in Cronenberg’s **Scanners**. It was a tranquilizer that had a nasty side effect – when given to pregnant women they produced babies with psychic abilities. They produced some great 1940s-era advertising copy for Ephemerol for the film [/QUOTE] Cronenberg’s **The Brood** has a therapy technique called “Psychoplasmics” which ends up manifesting itself in rather gruesome disease-like fashion. And of course, **Brave New World** had “soma”. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/10 "2008-03-28T16:41:09Z")
Huxley’s soma had a great promo line: “All the advantages of Christianity and alcohol; none of their defects.” There actually is a prescription drug on the market now called [Soma](http://www.drugs.com/soma.html), but it doesn’t sound anywhere near as good as Huxley’s invention. If you want to see some nifty invented diseases, check out antivaccinationist websites. For example, [this nutter](http://www.drcarley.com/innoculations_wmd_dr_carley.pdf) has invented one called “VIDS”. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9adbd/32.png) [@Mike\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Fun)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/11 "2008-03-28T16:53:34Z")
There’s a [list](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_medicines_and_drugs) on Wikipedia. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/12 "2008-03-28T16:57:02Z")
Was King making a reference to Jerry Garcia here, or did people start calling Garcia “Captain Trips” after The Stand came out? If so, that’s a little creepy. By the way, did anyone hear that there’s a list on Wikipedia? ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/13 "2008-03-28T16:58:47Z")
Another unfortunate oversight in the Wiki entry is Sexlexia. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/14 "2008-03-28T17:15:00Z")
From **Red Dwarf** **Better Than Life** a VR videogame that tapped directly into your brain (using cranial probes), accessed your subconscious mind to play out a “reality” scenario that was “better than life”, a great game as long as you’re not a complete screw-up with a subconsciousness that hates you and wishes you harm (like Rimmer) BTL was so addictive that the user never wanted to leave, and would slowly waste away and die in real life **Bliss** a powdery, brown substance that made the user think they were God, which was laughable, as when you’re on Bliss you can’t even tie your own shoes, the other problem with Bliss was that you could become addicted to it by just _looking_ at it…which made drug busts rather a problem… ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/15 "2008-03-28T17:47:44Z")
> [@](#): > > _A Clockwork Orange_ “The Korova milkbar sold milk-plus, milk plus vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom, which is what we were drinking.” ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/16 "2008-03-28T17:52:37Z")
The Legion of Super-Heroes had ProFem and ProMen, drugs used to change gender. Remember Shavaugh/Sean Erin? ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/17 "2008-03-28T18:11:35Z")
There was a fictional drug in A Scanner Darkly called Substance D (also referred to as Slow Death, Death or D) that was some kind of narcotic everyone was addicted to. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/18 "2008-03-28T21:48:09Z")
White Plague The White Plague by Frank Herbert A genetically engineered virus that kills only Irish and Libyan women. from [List of fictional diseases - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_diseases) this one is wrong, the white plague killed women period, nearly killed them all as well. the original targets were the Irish (and possibly Libyan as well) been a while since I read the book. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/19 "2008-03-28T21:59:14Z")
On Torchwood they have a mind-erasing drug called Retcon, which does come back to bite them a few times. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/20 "2008-03-28T22:03:59Z")
I can’t believe you have all forgotten: **The Andromeda Strain**. Various comics jump to mind: the Super-Soldier Serum (Captain America), Miraclo (Hourman), Gingold Serum (The Elongated Man). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057.md?page=2)