Social Articles - Writing and Speaking

One of the dilemmas I face with my writing is the overuse of the word 'had.' Besides learning and practicing the rules of grammar and fic

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

tion writing, I also find myself grappling with 'had.' It isn't the occasional 'had,' but the appearance of the word in every other sente

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

nce.

So, in an attempt to keep strengthening my writing, obeying some of the rules of fiction writing while breaking others, I tried to

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

find an alternative to 'had.' The solution I found happened to be the same solution for ridding as many adverbs as possible from my short

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

stories. One of the rules of fiction writing suggests eliminating adverbs by replacing them with a stronger, more specific verb. After h

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

ving applied this rule many times to my writing and considering the rule good advice, I decided to use the rule in my attempt to eliminat

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

e 'had' from my sentences whenever possible.

For example, consider these sentences:

Richard had two minutes to beat his deadline.
easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi
>

Tom had five marbles.

Rewritten without 'had,' the same sentences might read as the following:

Two minutes remained of Ric
nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically
hard's deadline.

Tom owned five marbles.

Now, consider this short passage:

She had the fate of the world in her hands.
and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ
Mankind had brought the earth to the brink of destruction. No one but her had the power to save millions of lives.

After attemptin
ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi
to get rid of 'had,' and to hopefully strengthen the sentences, the passage might read like this:

She held the fate of the world in
ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a
her hands. The earth teetered on the brink of destruction, thanks to mankind, and no one but her possessed the power to save millions of
dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod
lives.

Or, perhaps, the passage would read like this:

She held the fate of the world in her hands. Thanks to mankind, the earth
cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin
now teetered on the brink of destruction. No one but her possessed the power to save millions of lives.

After rewriting, I usually
tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen
try to play around with the newly written sentences to see how I might rearrange the sentences without the word 'had.' While it is not al
t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel
ays easy to find a more specific verb, the challenge can be fun and worth the effort. Sometimes, however, there is not a better alternati
ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust
ve and 'had' serves the sentence just fine.

The suggestion I have made on trying to eliminate 'had' is not written in stone; I am not ad
y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products
vocating that it is incorrect to craft sentences containing 'had.' So please remember to take my advice with a grain of salt. One of my f
.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de
avorite quotes, said by Christopher Leland, author of The Art of Compelling Fiction, is that "creating fiction…should be a source
elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip
of enjoyment, not a chore." I hope you have fun with what I have suggested should you decide to apply it to your writing.

© C. M. Clifto

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

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Social Articles - An Alternative to 'Had'

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