OK, bottom line: Are generic drugs as safe and effective as brand-name drugs? The generic answer is “yes”. The Scientific American reports that a generic drug contains the same active ingredient, which provides therapeutic benefit, as does the brand-name version. The journal tell us that generic drugs may vary in bioequivalency, which is the amount of drug that
is available in the bloodstream at any point in time, and cites a 2009
FDA study showing that of 2,070 orally administered generic drug
products approved by the agency between 1996 to 2007, generics differ in bioequivalency from brand names, on average, by about 3.5 percent. Sciam quotes William Hubbard, a former associate commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), saying that he would readily take a generic if it was prescribed. It also quotes Aaron Kesselheim, a physician and drug policy researcher at Harvard’s
Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and the author of a 2008 study that
showed there are no statistically significant therapeutic differences
among generic and brand-name heart medications. Says Kesselheim: “For the vast majority of patients, switching is not an issue.”
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For what it’s worth- a particular generic version eyedrop I use for a recurring condition named Iritis, has repeatedly failed to work. Using the Brand Name version Pred-Forte clears it up in days.
You people are stupid there is a difference I know this only to well after taking generics that didn’t work or made me sick QUIT LYING TO PEOPLE
gary
nobody said there weasn’t a difference- they said the active ingedients were the same- it’s the additives that are different and they cause some people problems.
Most americans are stupid though and think generics are like getting hand me downs.
Louis said…
If generics are just as effective as name brand drugs, then why is it that many doctors shy away from generics? I take several generics, but I also take several name brands as prescribed by the doctor. Lets get real! Generics are not as effective as name brands – only in some situations do they treat the patient equally, but as a whole, I’m a name brand guy.
generics are a joke,
HA-HA.Linda
Generic drugs and branded medicines have the same exact chemical compounds, so why bother buying the expensive one if they are both effective.