I had met people who have a complete knowledge of the generic medicines, yet they still choose the brand without giving any reason.
Why are they doing that?
Because I use a real programming language, tell me what a T is and I’ll start caring
Not to be super-pessimistic but the pharmaceutical industry seems to based upon encouraging awareness and promotion of name brands. Advertising and incentivizing doctors to prescribe promotes a system where the average patient has a hard time understanding and navigating, especially where the patient wants the best opportunity to treat a significant impact to their wellness.
In addition to the reasons other people mention, placebo is a helluva drug. If you believe the name brand is better, it may actually become more effective for you even if the active ingredients are the same as the generic.
Name brands only matter to me when it comes to chips, soda, cereal bars (like nutri-grain), and shampoo. Maybe some others I’m not thinking of. But drugs are def not on that list. The only time I ever requested name brand drugs was when I got a script for Klonopin I didn’t need back when I was an addict and only because I thought it would be cool to have the pills with the little K cut out of the middle, because like I said, addict.
One of the big things I don’t see mentioned here is that while the “active ingredient” in the medication is the same, all the other stuff in it is not. This also includes the binding agents that hold the med together and also the release mechanisms that control how/when the medicine is absorbed into your body.
For example, generic extended release amphetamine salts don’t release into your body in the same way Adderall XR does, despite being the same medication. While the patent on the drug has expired, the patent on the proprietary release mechanism has not expired. So generics can’t copy it. This could cause the generic to not work as well for some people, or some people could have a reaction to those different ingredients.
Edited: fixed spelling
I was going to say, it does depend on the drug and person. My son had that experience where the insurance flip-flopped to cover generic instead of Adderall, but it did not work at all for him so we had to fight to get it changed back. Since then every year or so insurance plays their game and we have to go through the ritual explaining why it can’t be generic when that becomes the one covered. It shouldn’t be this hard, right?
I think it’s generic and not genetic 🧬
SwiftKey auto correct strikes again. Fixed
The generic Advil don’t have the candy coating.
It’s rare, but some people do have adverse reactions to generics, and have to use the name brands.
Generic thyroid meds are notoriously poorly tolerated.
Yup. I’ve gone unmedicated for 10+ years as a result. I’ll take the highs/lows of hashimoto’s over ending up in the ER with my heart pounding out of my chest any day of the week.
This is incorrect. You just can’t switch manufacturers easily if you’re stable on one. But that’s not a brand vs generic thing, that’s an any manufacturer to any-other manufacturer thing. Same with warfarin, narrow-therapeutic index antiepileptics, etc.
Training
It all depends on the generics. I buy generic cereal. But only certain ones because other ones I have tried aren’t the same as the name brand and I like the name brand. Sometimes it’s as simple as texture difference or a difference in flavor.
In the case of my epi-pens, the generic injectors don’t work exactly the same and that can be a bit much in an emergency where your throat is swelling shut or you’re having difficulty breathing.
In the case of something over the counter, I’d still wager things like mouth feel, smell, or other sensory factors are a reason. Like for instance, I prefer the smooth coating on Advil to the matte coating on Motrin or other ibuprofen generic meds.
Same here (in terms of general approach, though I can’t buy generic cereal anymore, need that gluten free logo).
There was a vast difference for me in generics of omeprazole, and the first few generics of dexlansoprazole. Not as critical as an epi-pen obviously, but the delivery mechanism for pills can be so different it absolutely makes a difference.
Though there are in some cases specific reasons to use certain brands, its usually just due to marketing, branding, and near total ignorance.
My mom had medicare and a good secondary. Looking back, i should have requested name brands for her. With generic, there are often a couple of different patterns (size, shape, color) that you get and it makes it really difficult for older people to take their meds correctly.
There is significantly less oversight on generics vs brand. As a medical provider I have seen numerous examples of generics not working nearly as well as brand and I have switched patients back to brand. YMMV.
I’m guessing it’s because of concerns about quality control.
For example, I used to use generic eye drops. Then there were a bunch of recalls on eye drops made in India because they weren’t kept sterile and people were getting eye infections. So now I make sure to only buy eye drops that are manufactured in countries with actual controls on health codes. It turns out that imposing that restriction elliminated all the generic options. I’m certainly not happy to be paying double for brand name pataday, but I don’t care to mess with the chance of eye infections.
Their reasons will remain a mystery. If they don’t want to tell you, you’ll just never know.
As for me, I use generic medications whenever I have to pay for it out of pocket. If insurance covers it, I’m not putting in the effort to make sure I get generic.
Many generic meds are made in filthy factories with no quality control.
The FDA is slacking on testing generics for quality assurance, but third parties and other countries are revealing problems.
https://www.statnews.com/2024/08/12/fda-withdraw-approval-400-plus-tainted-drugs/
It’s interesting that you put the blame on the FDA. I’m not in the USA, but the effectiveness of a body like the FDA, the FCC, the EPA, FAA and all the others is directly related to how much money they have available and who is running the department; these are determined by politicians.
In other words, medical oversight depends entirely on whom you vote for and why voting is important. It’s the “little” things like this, not the defence or education budgets capturing the headlines that make the difference.
Doesn’t it kinda depend on what the doctor writes on the prescription? I’ve had both doctors who just put the brand name on there but also doctors who insist on writing down the generic version.
Either way, I don’t really see any point in arguing with them about whichever one they prefer? The medicines generally do work the same.The pharmacy can give you a generic no matter how the doctor writes it.
I just want to jump in to say this is probably dependant on where you live or which pharmacy you go to. In my state, if the doctor writes for the brand name, the pharmacy MUST fill the brand name. They can call the doctor to get approval for the generic, but they won’t just fill the generic at the patient’s request. YMMV
Good to know. I thought it was Federal, but it might just be a PA thing. But I know for sure there’s a mandatory poster at my pharmacy saying exactly that.
