All You Need to Know About Generic Prescription Drugs

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) defines a generic drug as “identical, or bioequivalent, to a brand name drug in dosage form, safety, strength, route of administration, quality, performance characteristics and intended use.” Although generic prescription drugs are the same as their branded counterparts, they exist with a different name. For instance, Tylenol is a brand name whose generic counterpart is called acetaminophen. Similarly, Prilosec, the med that helps with reflux disease is called Omeprazole, while Glucophage, used by diabetics, is termed Metformin.

There are two essential differences between branded and generic prescription drugs:

Price: Generic drugs are much cheaper than the branded (or ‘innovator’) ones. With skyrocketing prices of healthcare facilities, an increasing number of people are opting for generic drugs.

Appearance: The term ‘bioequivalent’ implies the use of same active ingredients in patented and generic drugs. However, The US Trademark laws insist on the drugs looking different, so that the generic version of the patented meds may be of a different color, shape and taste. It is also possible that the inactive ingredients in both the versions are different.

Also, while purchasing drugs, it is important to remember that not all branded drugs have a generic version. The newly-formulated meds will be patented for a few years before the generic counterparts are developed.

Reality check – Several patients have reported problems on shifting from branded to generic prescription drugs and vice versa. A majority of the problems seem to occur due to the discrepancy between the inactive ingredients, while others stem from the quantity of the active ingredient used in the two versions.

A patent-protected drug is called an innovator drug. After a new drug is developed, it gets protected by a patent so that no other developer can legally sell the same drug for a specified period of time. The patent is levied in order to protect the investment of the original developer and it usually lasts for 17 years.

The patented drug is expensive than generic prescription drugs because the cost branded drugs include the costs of:

• Research
• Safety seal
• Marketing and transportation

Additionally, if it is the only available option for a particular type of disease or medical condition, it proves even more expensive. On the other hand, a generic drug manufacturer does not incur the cost of research, testing or marketing; therefore, generic drugs are available at a lower cost.

It is very important that you purchase generic drugs from a reputed pharmacy, in order to ensure the quality of the meds. To purchase quality generic and branded drugs at low prices, visit NorthWestPharmacy.com.