Generic Drugs? As Good? Better? Not so Good?

Are generic drugs as effective as their more expensive brand name correlatives? The Los Angeles Times gives us a five-part package that answers the question as well as it can be answered: most of the time, yes.  There are, the Times points out, about 9,000 generic drugs on the market, and the number about which concerns have been raised is described as "a handful." The Times hears from Kathleen Jaeger, president and chief executive of the Generic
Pharmaceutical Assn., who dismisses all of these debates as "misinformation
campaigns" masterminded by brand-name pharmaceutical companies. It also hears from Dr. Peter R. Kowey, chief of cardiovascular diseases at the
Philadelphia area’s Main Line Health System, who reviewed the issue of
generic substitution of certain heart drugs for the American Heart
Assn. Between some pioneer drugs and their generic imitators, Kowey
said, "we are concerned that the margin of difference is large enough"
to risk patients’ health. The debate goes on. One thing that is not debated is the difference in cost. Generic drugs cost, on average, about one-third as much as the brand names.
Read more in the L.A. Times.