Generic drugs lack only the fancy labels

You get what you pay for. I’ve heard that, many times. I even believe it, sometimes.

There are those of us, on the other hand, who are always looking for the best deal. And for those of us looking to save a buck in this time of escalating drug costs and the increasing barrage of direct-to-consumer advertising, generic drugs are one good saving strategy.

So what is a generic drug, anyway, and is it as good as the brand name variety? And what’s the difference between the two?

To answer that, we have to look at how drugs are developed. There is considerable research and development that goes into creating a new drug. That costs big bucks. In return for that outlay, the drug company which develops a new drug, tests and markets it, gets patent protection for 17 years. No other company (or even the same company) can market a generic equivalent drug during the time of protection.

Often, the drug companies play games to extend that protection. They might apply to market the drug for a different indication. They might produce studies that say the drug is OK for children. They might challenge a generic manufacturer in court. All these ploys can delay the appearance of generic drugs.

But eventually, generic drugs make it to the marketplace, competing with “me too” drugs that companies produce, under patent, and market to us as the next best thing for treating high cholesterol, or heartburn, or depression. And those “me too” drugs are for conditions we’ll be treating for a long time. That too, translates into big bucks that we’ll be paying for the latest and the “greatest.”

Generics are the same as their brand name peers. They contain the same active drugs, in the same amounts as the brand names. They are taken the same way – by mouth, by shot, under the tongue. The companies which make the generic drug must show that their drug is absorbed into the system just like the brand name drug, reaches the same blood levels, and lasts as long in your body. The FDA requires that they have the same quality, purity, and production standards as the branded version.

So why are they cheaper?

The generic companies don’t put out those big bucks to develop the drugs. They also don’t have to produce those initial studies that prove the drug is safe and effective. They don’t have to pay the scientists who did the initial research, which they are doing more and more lately as government funding for basic research declines.

Competition helps. There is no limit on how many companies can market a generic drug, so these companies are competing with each other, and this keeps the cost down.

Generic drugs don’t look the same as their brand name counterparts, and that can confuse the consumer. Doctor’s offices are used to getting frantic phone calls, “The pharmacist filled my prescription with the wrong drug!” Because of trademark protection, your generic fluoxetine won’t look like Prozac.

One of the problems (well, it’s not a problem exactly) with generic manufacturers is that they don’t often “sample” their drugs. That means that your doctor’s office won’t have free samples to give you. When you’re starting a new medicine, it’s nice to have those freebies. You can see how you do on the drug, and if you have any side effects that you don’t want to put up with, before you shell out for a prescription. But it’s a brand name that you sample, and subsequently end up taking. That ultimately wipes out any savings from the samples.

So when it’s time to try a new medication, ask your doctor if there’s a generic to try. You may not need Zocor when lovostatin will work just as well. One study found that generic lovostatin actually worked better than Zocor. Maybe because patients could afford the less expensive drug, and thus actually took it. What a concept.