Why You Should Take Generic Medicines

There is no better way to curb health care costs for individuals and the nation, without sacrificing anything, than to use generic rather than brand name drugs, both prescription and over the counter ones.

Every time you let yourself choose a brand name medicine you have allowed yourself to be brainwashed by advertising. Just think of all the commercials on television for brand name prescription drugs as well as ads in magazines and newspapers. They cost a fortune. You pay for them if you succumb to the advertising and buy those products. In fact, the much higher cost you pay for a brand name product is almost entirely caused by all the advertising used by the manufacturer to convince the public to use their product.

You get no medicinal benefit from the brand name medicine, because the generic alternative is equivalent in effectiveness and safety to the brand one. This is not some theory. It is fact that has been proven again and again by testing and research by both the government and private entities. And also determined by personal experience. Anyone, for example, that pays a lot of money for a brand name nonprescription pain reliever or cold or allergy medicine rather than a generic version is just plain stupid. They will get exactly the same benefit benefits from the generic alternative.

A new, important study has just been published that carefully examined heart drugs and found that brand names were no better than generics. The study was recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The scientists looked at 20 years of research and expert opinion on generic versus brand name drugs used in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, including beta blockers, statins, calcium channel blockers, and anti-platelet agents. Here is their critical conclusion: There was no clinical evidence for preferring the more costly brand name drugs. In technical terms, the composition, rate and extent to which their active ingredients are present at the target site inside the body are so similar that there is no difference between them. They are said to be bioequivalent.

These researchers went beyond the evidence for equivalency. They asked themselves why so many doctors were writing in editorials that brand name drugs were preferred. They reviewed editorials by physicians and classified them as negative, positive or neutral, depending on the authors' view on generic substitution. Here is the startling finding: 53 per cent of the editorials written mostly for doctors expressed a negative view about whether generic drugs could replace or be used instead of brand names, compared to only 28 percent that favored generics

This means that many, many physicians likely advise their patients to use brand rather than cheaper generic drugs. One reason why some physicians promote brand name drugs is that they receive financial support from those companies. And as most of us have discovered, physicians provide free samples of brand drugs, which in itself is a tactic used by pharmaceutical companies to get patients hooked on brand name drugs. However, some insurance companies and physicians have started to use generic drug vending machines in doctor's offices and have found that providing free samples of generic drugs increases their choice by physicians and patients. The MedVantx kiosk provides up to 20 generic drugs for a number of common conditions and the company said 3 to 12 percent of the prescriptions shifted from brand name to generic at practices with its kiosks.

Another study published in 2007 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine examined the language used by physicians when prescribing medicines. It noted that brand name drugs being used even when bioequivalent generic alternatives are available are costing an estimated $8.8 billion in excess expenditures annually in the US, but other studies show much higher possible savings, such as $20 billion. This study found from 2003 data that even when drugs were available in generic form, physicians used the brand name in 79 percent of the cases. Again, this shows a bias for brand name drugs among physicians that inevitably impacts consumers' decisions, unless pharmacists advise people to use generics.

In the current economic recession it is disgraceful that anyone tries to convince the public to use brand over generic drugs. To their credit many health insurance companies are actively promoting use of cheaper generic drugs, often by requiring much lower co-pays for generics.. And a great many Americans are acting intelligently by using generics. In fact, Medicare prescription drug benefit spending in fiscal year 2008 totaled $44 billion, which was $6 billion lower than estimated. In large measure this was due to greater use of generics. Generic prescription drugs accounted for 64 percent of all Medicare prescriptions in FY 2008, compared with 61 percent in the private sector, indicating that older Americans are acting smarter than the general population.

In many cases, however, generic versions of some popular brand name drugs are not available in the US. But they can be purchased from pharmacies in other countries for huge cost savings. This is the case, for example, for Lipitor used to treat high cholesterol and Plavix used to prevent blood clots and clogging of arteries.

My own personal experience is that brand prescription drugs that easily cost from $3 to $5 a pill can be obtained for a tenth or less of that cost by using generics, either from US or foreign pharmacies. Similar or even larger savings can be obtained for generic over the counter medicines, especially when purchased in large quantity at places like Costco.

If all Americans acted smarter and whenever possible chose generic over brand name medicines the savings for health care in the nation would be billions and billions of dollars yearly.