Lets Compare generics and brand names medications
Upon returning home from the drug store with a newly filled prescription for a medication that you take regularly, you remove one from the bottle and prepare to take it. You stop short when you see that the new pills do not look like the ones that you normally take. You check the medication label multiple times to find a name so impossibly long that you can’t even pronounce it.
This happens so frequently in American homes, and could be prevented with better patient education concerning FDA approved generic drugs. When this happens, many patients believe at first that their prescription has not been filled properly or that there has been a mix-up of some kind. Most likely your prescription was filled as the doctor prescribed but with an inexpensive generic medication that is the same as the brand medication that you had before.
When this happens, many of us march right back to the pharmacy, pill bottle in hand, ready to argue with the unsuspecting pharmacist, who calmly assures us that the medication is actually the generic version of our prescription.
So what should you expect on your label and in your bottle when you first receive a generic medication? These are a few situations where generic medications are different than the name brand. Knowing these differences exist even though it is the same medication can ease your mind when you see these new pills and will help the pharmacist better assist you if you have questions. Remember that even though this information is correct, do not use it to guarantee your prescription is filled correctly. You should check with your pharmacist prior to taking the medication if you have any doubts. However, the majority of the pharmacies take steps to be sure that the patient realizes that he/she has received a generic medication before completion of the sale.
Some differences:
Size/Shape/Color: Generic medications are produced by a variety of companies and there will be variations in the appearance of each product depending upon each company’s design and production process. There can be wide variation in designs between manufacturers. The name brand drug may be a different color and/or shape than the generic version. Be confident that the difference here is just superficial and that the medication is certified by the FDA as having identical remedial functions as its brand equivalent.
Name: While this aspect is very simple, it is often the one that causes the most confusion. Generic drug names are actually the pharmaceutical names based on the designated chemical formula of the products. Brand name drugs usually have catchy names that are easy to pronounce and remember, making it convenient for doctors and patients to recognize that drug. When you think of a prescription drug for reflux symptoms, it is likely Prilosec will come to mind. Omperazole is the chemical name of the drug, which is different than the brand name. To help people remember, the brand name is often a play on words and designed to evoke certain words or feelings, while the generic name approved by the FDA is based on the chemical formula.
Inactive Ingredients: The FDA imposes strict regulations that state that generic prescription medications must be chemically identical to the brand name item. But because they may contain different inactive ingredients, the medication may have a different color, texture or binding. The differences in the inactive ingredients are more noticeable in the generic version of medications. But it is ONLY the inactive ingredients that are different — the main ingredient is the same. Those ingredients are responsible for giving the pill its taste, texture, shape, color, and bond which may occasionally be different but do no disturb, at all, the active ingredients nor the remedial actions of the medication.
Price: Here’s where you will find the biggest difference and the major reason for making the leap to generics. Generic medications cost approximately 85% less than name brand versions. People frequently are amazed that the same medication can be so much cheaper. Most think that generic medications do not work as well and could be dangerous. This is most definitely a false assumption. The truth of the matter is that there is one simple explanation as to why generics cost less. The company that patented the medication (e.g. the brand) coughed up a huge amount of money, not to mention time, on research and development, testing, FDA endorsement, marketing, and manufacturing of the medication. Because this is so costly, these companies receive a patent for a certain length of time that allows them to charge a high price without any competition so they can recoup the costs of these expenses.
But once the patent has run its course, other companies can use the drug formula to produce a version that behaves in the same manner, but they can charge less because they only have to be concerned with the costs of producing, packaging, and shipping the drug. Because existing drugs, including generic medications, do not need to go through billions of dollars necessary for research and development of new drugs, the saving is passed down the pipeline all the way to the consumer. Recently some of the companies that produce name brand drugs have even begun producing their own generic versions of the drugs they originally brought to market, in order to compete with generic companies.
What about the individuals who swear generics do not do the same job as a brand name and even have no effect? Most likely this has a psychological component, and although it may not all be a result of their imagination, it is possible that if a person believes a generic does not work as well, it may actually seem that the drug is not as effective. Think of it the way your body reacts when it is mentally stressed. There is a possibility that a few people could be allergic to the inactive ingredients in a generic medication and that could interfere with the drug’s effectiveness. However, once again, the FDA tests and approves the production of all medications, both name brand and generics, before they can be made available for sale. Since 2007 the FDA has been making literature and fact sheets available, promoting a campaign to educate people and to show how generic medicines which are sold in pharmacies are tested by the FDA to ensure that they are of the highest quality. They receive the same rigorous FDA testing as the brand medications, ensuring consistency, accuracy, and effectiveness.
Generic medications can save consumers quite a bit of money. The cost difference is not due to generics being inferior in effectiveness, but rather due to the fact that the generic medication manufacturer does not have to bear the costs of research, development and marketing of a previously established formula. This results in their ability to charge a lower price. Before leaving your drug store, check your medications and if you see pills you do not recognize, ask the pharmacist about this. Also ask any questions you may have, to be sure you have been given the correct medication and a high quality generic version.