Meds

Does anyone have any experience of changing from an expensive brand of their meds to a cheeper generic one? Have you noticed any difference? It is supposed to be exactly the same thing in a cheeper box, isn't it? My local pharmasy ran out of my usual medication and they asked me several times if I would allow them to replace with a generic brand. Why would they make such a big deal of it, if it really is the same stuff? By the way the generic meds are almost 50% cheeper than the other brand...

10 Comments

genertc

by franko1966 - 2009-07-19 02:07:01

that is all i take,is generic brands,and that is what the hospital gave me all the time,digoxin level is fine.try it if dont like it you can always go back.but they work for me.

Hi Smitty

by pupu - 2009-07-19 02:07:18

I was not bored, I found your comment quite interesting. I have noticed one difference with the generic medicine: it makes me dizzy sometimes. One interesting feature (which may mean nothing as such) is that the name brand did not mention dizziness as a possible side effect but the generic one does. In addition the generic one lists 43 possible side effects, while the other one mentions only 8... It is certainly possible that I started feeling dizzy for some other reason right about the time I changed the meds...
Be that as it may (and sorry for the earlier spelling mistakes), I hope you are feeling better. Take care!
Pupu

Generics Meds.

by SMITTY - 2009-07-19 04:07:04

Not all drugs can be duplicated and sold as generics after the original patent expires. A good example is Premarin. See the following:

On May 5, 1997, a little noticed news item reported that the U.S. "Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had rejected an application for a generic version of the drug Premarin. The FDA approving or rejecting a drug is generally a dog bites man story. But not in this case. Indeed, it appears that in making one of the most important decisions in recent years, the FDA sacrificed science and the public health on the altar of political accommodation.
Although the FDA and Premarin’s manufacturer, Wyeth-Ayerst, would like the American public to believe that this decision was in their best interests, the reality is that it was driven by hoards of lobbyists, fraught with conflicts of interest, and characterized by questionable behind-the-scenes political maneuvering. Wyeth's revenues from Premarin are currently $1billion a year and rising.


Now a comment on what Franko1966 said. I agree that not all generic drugs are suspect. Much depends on where the manufacturer is located. If you take one that is made in the U.S. or other country that enforces strict quality control of medicines sold as a generic then you probably will not notice any difference from the results you get from the name brand.

The health care system we use gets some of its generics from manufacturers that are located in Far East countries. Although those medicines are supposed to be checked and certified as safe as the originals by our FDA, the FDA is so overwhelmed by the shear number of items it supposed to check they are not able to do this for all the manufacturers and that are shipping meds.

So back to my original statement that taking generics is somewhat like a crap shoot. Some people win, some break even and some lose. To me it is more of pay your money and take your chances

Smitty

Yes, I have!

by auntiesamm - 2009-07-19 04:07:18

Hello All, I don't check in very often but here I am with a comment. I have taken Norvasc for a few years with great control of my BP. When the generic came on the market that was what I got - much less expensive, just a $10.00 co-pay. Problem is after a short while my BP was very unstable. PCP wrote a RX for "no substitution" and I went back on Norvasc. BP was controlled almost immediately. PCP then wrote a special request to my insurance to not substitute a generic. I am well-controlled now at a cost of $50.00 per month co-pay. My wonderful PCP told me 2 other of her patients had the same problem with the generic so for some folks it will not work. My other meds are all generic.

Our wonderful, brilliant Smitty explained it all very well. I wish the best to all my friends on here, old and new, and ask God's blessings on everyone.

Sharon (SO CA)

Generic drugs

by mrag - 2009-07-19 04:07:31

In Pennsylvania, USA, the pharmacy MUST use a generic equivalent UNLESS the prescribing doctor specifically states "no substitution allowed." I've never had a doctor in 35 years specify that I needed anything but the generic. In addition to advertising costs, the name-brand company no doubt invested a small fortune in developing and testing a drug before bringing it to market. Then of course, if they are first, they also can get hit with a number of lawsuits (yea, lawyers-the swine) first. So, on one side, I can see the much higher price and the need for trademark/copyright/patent protection. However, that only goes for a few years (?!?). A current legal issue is the name brand makers have been basically bribing the generic manufacturers NOT to produce a generic equivalent trying to get another year or two. Do some research on the most popular drug in the world-Lipitor and see what happened there.

More than anyone wanted to know. Short version, in the US anyway, you can safely use generics.

Thankyou Smitty

by Blueaustralia - 2009-07-19 07:07:05

My husband is epileptic. He had been stable for years and years. Suddenly he started having fits. Eventually after lengthy investigation again, the sp told him never to take generic brand of his medication as he had seen other patients suffer the same. It caused us untold grief and suffering. He certainly did not need to go through all that again. Especially as he was not allowed to drive for a while.

I notice that with my bp tabs which have a diruretic component, that I wonder some days if I have taken them. Yep, they changed it to a generic brand. Here we have a choice, sometimes we have to pay a couple of dollars extra or the doc can mark the script that no subsitute is to be made. I am very wary of generic brand medications now. After all if you shop in the supermarket, , naturally their homebrand is cheaper but it is never of the same high quality of your favourite brand.

Cheers from Oz

Amiodarone

by ted - 2009-07-19 07:07:55

I was on Cordarone (Amiodarone) for many years. When the drug first went generic, my doctor did not want me to switch until the generic was out for a few years to make sure there were no problems. Then one day he told me to go ahead and get the generic. When Prilosec (Omeprazole) went generic, the drug company changed an insignificant molecule and markets it as Nexium which requires a prescription. Anything for a buck.

Go for the cheaper one

by johnb10000 - 2009-07-19 11:07:48

In most cases you can go for the cheaper medications. You might ask your doctor first just to make sure it is OK.

Troprol costs about $100 a month while Metropol is a lot cheaper but this medicine is in short supply.

Name Brand vs, Generic Meds.

by SMITTY - 2009-07-19 12:07:26

You have hit upon a subject here that hits home with me. In my opinion going from name brand to a generic brand is somewhat of a crap shoot. As we have heard all our lives, not all things are created equal. Well I know for a fact that applies to generic vs. name brand medicines. Although, I take mostly generic brands, because my Medicare Plan D requires it if they are going to help pay the cost, I see the difference in prescription refills from time to time.

In fact I've had it confirmed by two doctors that generic brands are not always equal to the name brand. I know of a couple of reasons for this. In attempts to reduce the manufacturing costs the generic may not be as good as the name brands simply because the quality control may not be as good. This may be something as simple as blending the active ingredients in a particular medicine may not be as good in the generics as the name brand.

To give an example of what I'm talking about here take a pill that contains 25 milligrams (mg)of active ingredient but the entire pill weighs two grams. Now taking this a few steps further say that they make this medicine in batches of 1,000,000 pills at a time. Of course I have no idea how many pills they make in each batch, but 1,000,000 pills bottled 100 pills to the bottle that would be only 10,000 bottles so I'll use that number for my discussion.

If you have 1,000,000 pills that weigh 2 grams and each pill contains 25mg of active ingredient then you have a total batch that weighs 4,230 lbs. of which 53 lbs is active ingredient. As you can imagine it will take a lot of mixing to get that 53 lbs thoroughly dispersed in that mixture.

Having been employed by a firm for a few years that made chemical compounds and solutions, of which we guaranteed the quality, as they were used in laboratory analytical work, I know the problems we sometimes encountered in getting a homogeneous mixture.

I have some of my medicines that, for example the diuretic, I take will start work almost immediately and I'll drop pound or two in excess fluid over the next couple of hours. Then there are times I wonder did I take that pill this morning? I know there are many factors that can come into play here, but I usually write it off to taking a pill that was low on active ingredient, or vice versa.

To further my belief this can and does happen, a couple of years ago I was given the generic Digoxin to see if would help a problem I was having with arrhythmia. The first bottle of 60 pills worked perfectly. I got a refill and on the label there was a notation of they had a change in supplier of this medicine, which I did not notice at first. When the medicine did not work I called my doctor and asked that since I was taking a generic medicine did they think it possible that I got prescription that was not of equal quality to the one I had gotten before. The reply it is possible and they had that complaint before so they put me on the name brand. I got that prescription and within a week or so I had my arrhythmia under control again.

To sum it up, of course there are lots of factors involved in determining the selling price of a pill. But generics do not have one cost that name brands do have. That is the cost of advertising which is a major cost for any drug manufacturer. And to comment on your statement of "if it really is the same stuff" it may be supposed to be but for many reasons it may not be so that the manufacturing costs can be lower and allow lower selling price.

I'm sure there are many out there that may disagree with me, but you hit upon a subject I often think about. And this morning I'm confined to my chair for several hours while I'm using an oxygen concentrator, Therfore, I have the time to bore you with another one of my opinions, of which I have many.

Smitty

who knows

by walkerd - 2009-07-20 09:07:53

which is better, I dont. I was takeing well still am digoxin was getting them from pharmacy until insurance said I had to go to the mail order kind, a few months later I recieved a letter stateing I may have had a batch that may have contained a higher dose, well I thought for a minute and rememered I had had a blood test and my digoxin levels where high so my cardio cut doseage in half, so I told them of this and they sent me for another blood test this was about three months after I had switched, guess what levels where low so they put it back up and I had to go have another blood test and I hate needles and getting blood drawn dont know why but it makes me about pass out, then I had to go back for another, did something stupid before test went in about an hour after I had taken meds, week later the doc office calls and asks when I took my meds in corrilation to blood test , I just chuckled and said about an hour or two before hand, so back to get another needle put in, now they raised my dose again and guess what in two weeks I have to go get poked again. I wish I could take a few needles and poke some of the people connected with makeing the pills and see how they like it. I guess poor workmanship is rampant in every industry. People just dont care anymore, so who knows.
just my longwinded two cents worth
dave

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