Although it’s a term that can’t be found in any medical dictionary, it’s already being extensively used in research, and a quick Google search reveals pages of its usage.

While we couldn’t get an authoritative definition, we assume it refers to a patient who has never before taken a pharmaceutical drug.

And, like so many expressions from the drug industry, it’s wonderful. It’s a great way of sign-posting your future audience, and so we assume patient files could be marked ‘drug-naïve’ under the category ‘Hot prospects’.

We noticed it in an advertisement for Avandamet, a drug to help achieve glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes. The advertisement shows five people, full of the joys with big happy smiles on their faces, striding together into a certain future. They are all ‘drug-naïve’ (which may explain the happy faces), and the implication is something like: ‘Look doc, these are naïve people. They need our help but don’t yet know it. Give them a helping hand, and prescribe them Avandamet.’

Of course, once they’ve started on prescription drugs, they are no longer naïve, and so will probably never want to touch another one while they have any choice in the matter.

(Source: Journal of the American Medical Association, 2006; 296: advertising section).