Why buy Generic?

Generic Drugs: The Facts

   Generic drugs are made with the same active ingredients and produce the same effects in the body as their brand-name equivalents. By federal law, each generic drug is laboratory-tested to ensure that the same amount of drug will be absorbed into the bloodstream. The difference? Name and price.

   The brand name of a drug is the name under which it was originally marketed, and is protected by patent for up to 20 years. When this patent expires, other manufacturers can produce the generic equivalent of the brand and sell it under its generic name. In general, the cost to the consumer immediately drops by 20 to 30 percent. Within two years, the price is usually up to 60 percent less.

   In almost all cases, generics work as well as their brand-name siblings, and often cost considerably less. This is possible not because of lower quality, but because research and advertising costs are much less for generics. Many insurance plans encourage you to accept the generic version of a drug whenever it's medically safe. Most states let pharmacists substitute a generic when appropriate and when your doctor approves it.

   In most cases, the answer is "yes," Generic drugs are as safe and effective as brand-name products, and subject to the same quality guidelines set by the Food and Drug Administration to ensure their therapeutic equivalence. They're not inferior. People mistakenly believe cost is equivalent to quality."

   Generic drugs must contain an identical amount of active ingredients as their brand-name counterparts, and in the identical dosage. The generic drug must deliver the same amount of those active ingredients into a patient's bloodstream and within the same time frame as the original drug. It must also fall in "acceptable parameters" established by the FDA for bioavailability, which is the extent and rate at which the body absorbs the drug.

   So besides price, the only real difference between brand-name and generic drugs tends to be the inactive ingredients used that have no medicinal value. These include fillers, binders, coloring and flavoring, which may explain why generics may differ in the size or shape of pills or capsules.

   A. Manufacturers of generic drugs have to meet the same FDA requirements as the brand name drugs. They must prove that their product provides the same dosage, the same amount of active ingredient, and falls within the same range of bioavailability as the original. They do not have to prove that it works to treat depression or that it is safe for human consumption, however. In theory, this has already been proven. In general, the generic you get should be the same as far as therapeutic effect. There may be slightly different inactive ingredients such as the dyes, fillers, etc., but these are only of concern if you happen to have an allergy to them. The active ingredient will be virtually the same as the brand name product, although the extent and rate at which the drug enters your blood stream may vary slightly. This occurs because pills are manufactured to fall within a certain range of bioavailability, rather than to fall on a precise value