Q: Is there a significant difference between generic drugs and trade name ones? The pharmacy usually substitutes the cheaper drug for me to take, but I wonder if the manufacturer’s brand-name drugs are better?
A: On the whole, there are no differences between generic and trade name drugs.
The pharmaceutical companies spend millions of dollars researching, and later promoting their new drug, and so have to recoup investment and advertising costs. They also have to spend money on drug trials before the medication can be accepted and approved by the federal health department. The generic drug maker has to do none of these things, and so its costs are lower.
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Generic drugs can only appear in this country after the original manufacturer’s drug has been on the market 10 years. Prozac, for example, now has a generic version. Sometimes the same people make the generic drug, but call it something different. Obviously, in these cases, the drugs are identical, except perhaps the colour.
In other examples, say generic Ibuprofen as opposed to Motrin, the manufacturers are different and the drugs are packaged and labeled differently on drug store shelves, but they still do the same thing. They are used as painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs for arthritis or headaches.
The costs of generic drugs are considerably cheaper. For example, Ibuprofen is about half the price of Motrin, costing as little as $3 in the drug store.
Also, Motrin at the 400 milligram strength has to be prescribed, so you have the additional problem of a trip to the doctor’s office. Instead, you could take two 200 mg of the generic Ibuprofen. Make sure you inform your doctor of any self-prescribed medications that you may be taking, as they could clash with prescribed drugs.
However, in my book, there are a few exceptions. I have always considered the drug Tegretol, used for epilepsy and some other illnesses, to be better than the generic Carbemazepine. This is arguable, but it is a drug that requires regular blood testing to determine the blood levels, and to me, they seem more stable with the non-generic Tegretol.
Quality lacking
Another example is Eltroxin as opposed to Synthyroid for treatment of hypothyroidism. It has been determined in the United States that the potency of Synthyroid varies considerably from one batch to another.
The manufacturer was asked to improve quality control, so hopefully things will be better in the U.S., but I am not sure if this also applies to Canada. Eltroxin is only a little more expensive.
Another way of saving money is to ask your doctor to prescribe a medication that may be older and not as fancy as a newer drug, but will probably do the same job. It might even be safer because with some new drugs, side effects or long-term effects have yet to be discovered. An example of this is the antibiotic Doxycycline, which works for anthrax and other infections as opposed to Cipro. The former costs about $20 for a 10-day treatment, whereas Cipro could be more than $100.
The heart medication Enalapril costs about $10, while the newer drug, Cozaar, is about three times as expensive.
