Generic Vs Brand-Name Drugs
When you buy pharmacy drugs, you have a choice between generic or branded.
Attendants at a pharmacy can help you by enumerating the non-proprietary names of the medicine that you are asking for.
Today, we are going to discuss one of the most prevalent pharmacy questions: What exactly are generic drugs and how do they differ from branded ones? What are generic drugs? Pharmacy drugs generally come in two forms: generic and brand-name drugs.
The former is essentially similar to a brand-name drug in terms of ingredients used, potency and dosage.
The only difference should be that generic drugs are often priced lower than their branded counterparts.
Pharmacy drugs are first marketed by the pharmaceutical company that researched and discovered it under a patent.
This patent protects the company from having other pharmaceutical companies manufacture the same drug.
In the United States, the patent usually lasts for 20 years.
After the patent expires, any company can manufacture the drug as generics.
Generic drugs are no different from brand-name drugs.
In theory, generics should be as effective, as pure and of equal quality as brand name drugs.
In other words, taking generic drugs should have the same effect and should be as safe as taking their more expensive counterparts.
All generic medicines are approved by the Food and Drug Administration before they could be sold to the public.
This approval signifies that the generic version of the drug works the same way as the brand-name version does.
So if you are looking to save money, ask the pharmacy's help for generic versions of the drug you want to buy.
Generics help you save.
Generic drugs are a godsend.
If you have worked in a drug store before, you would know that one of the most prevalent pharmacy questions is how one could save on medicines.
According to the Generic Pharmaceutical Association, generic drugs helped American consumers save $193 billion in 2012, with eight out of every 10 prescriptions being filled with generics.
In fact, generic drugs are usually 80% to 85% cheaper than their brand-name counterparts.
Why is this? It is because manufacturers of generic meds do not have to spend on product research and marketing.
Top pharmaceuticals usually spend billions of dollars to research a new drug and test it for their efficacy and safety.
They have 20 years or the equivalent of their patents to recoup their investments on the particular drug, before lower priced generics could enter the market.
The good news is, ideally, the lower cost of generic drugs does not translate to lower quality.
This is backed by the FDA, ensuring that generic versions are essentially the same as branded ones.
The FDA also monitors any event that indicates that the generic version might have adverse effects on people taking it.
A caveat.
However, consumers must be warned that not all generic medicines work as well as their brand-name versions.
A January 2013 article that appeared on Fortune Magazine raised the alarm that some generic versions were more potent than their brand-name versions.
Some generic drugs were also found to be of inferior quality and having other components that should not be there.
Take for instance anti-cholesterol drug Lipitor, which was discovered to contain shards of glass.
The article largely focused on FDA's recent backtracking on the generic version of Wellbutrin.
Nevertheless, you will generally be able to benefit from generic versions of pharmacy drugs.
If you need more help or if you have some more questions, ask your doctor or pharmacist about it.
A simple online research will also aid you.
Attendants at a pharmacy can help you by enumerating the non-proprietary names of the medicine that you are asking for.
Today, we are going to discuss one of the most prevalent pharmacy questions: What exactly are generic drugs and how do they differ from branded ones? What are generic drugs? Pharmacy drugs generally come in two forms: generic and brand-name drugs.
The former is essentially similar to a brand-name drug in terms of ingredients used, potency and dosage.
The only difference should be that generic drugs are often priced lower than their branded counterparts.
Pharmacy drugs are first marketed by the pharmaceutical company that researched and discovered it under a patent.
This patent protects the company from having other pharmaceutical companies manufacture the same drug.
In the United States, the patent usually lasts for 20 years.
After the patent expires, any company can manufacture the drug as generics.
Generic drugs are no different from brand-name drugs.
In theory, generics should be as effective, as pure and of equal quality as brand name drugs.
In other words, taking generic drugs should have the same effect and should be as safe as taking their more expensive counterparts.
All generic medicines are approved by the Food and Drug Administration before they could be sold to the public.
This approval signifies that the generic version of the drug works the same way as the brand-name version does.
So if you are looking to save money, ask the pharmacy's help for generic versions of the drug you want to buy.
Generics help you save.
Generic drugs are a godsend.
If you have worked in a drug store before, you would know that one of the most prevalent pharmacy questions is how one could save on medicines.
According to the Generic Pharmaceutical Association, generic drugs helped American consumers save $193 billion in 2012, with eight out of every 10 prescriptions being filled with generics.
In fact, generic drugs are usually 80% to 85% cheaper than their brand-name counterparts.
Why is this? It is because manufacturers of generic meds do not have to spend on product research and marketing.
Top pharmaceuticals usually spend billions of dollars to research a new drug and test it for their efficacy and safety.
They have 20 years or the equivalent of their patents to recoup their investments on the particular drug, before lower priced generics could enter the market.
The good news is, ideally, the lower cost of generic drugs does not translate to lower quality.
This is backed by the FDA, ensuring that generic versions are essentially the same as branded ones.
The FDA also monitors any event that indicates that the generic version might have adverse effects on people taking it.
A caveat.
However, consumers must be warned that not all generic medicines work as well as their brand-name versions.
A January 2013 article that appeared on Fortune Magazine raised the alarm that some generic versions were more potent than their brand-name versions.
Some generic drugs were also found to be of inferior quality and having other components that should not be there.
Take for instance anti-cholesterol drug Lipitor, which was discovered to contain shards of glass.
The article largely focused on FDA's recent backtracking on the generic version of Wellbutrin.
Nevertheless, you will generally be able to benefit from generic versions of pharmacy drugs.
If you need more help or if you have some more questions, ask your doctor or pharmacist about it.
A simple online research will also aid you.
