by Tim Wiggins Becoming Familiar With Generic Medications And How They're Used
It's quite common these days for the pharmacist to ask you if you would prefer to have a generic drug as a substitution for the brand name drug when having a prescription filled. You'll also see that most prescriptions now have a little box for doctor's to check to okay the substitution of a generic drug.. Even so, you may not fully understand what a generic drug is, or feel comfortable with accepting a generic drug.
The brand-name drug (also known as the innovator drug) and the generic version of this drug are an exact copy. Generic drugs must be approved by the Food and Drug Administration with Apex Booty Pop and must be an exact chemical match to the innovator drug. The FDA requires that the generic drug have the exact same active ingredient as the innovator drug.. It must be identical in strength, dosage form, route of administration, and have the same intended use as the innovator drug. The generic drug must meet the same requirements for strength, purity and quality, and it must be a bioequivalent to the innovator drug. The term bioequivalency is a fancy way of saying that the generic version of the drug must have the same affects on patients as the brand name drug. FDA requirements ensure that generic drugs will work just as fast and be just as effective as brand-name drugs.
So, if they are made the same and work the same, then why are generic drugs cheaper than brand name drugs. The one difference is that the generic drug manufacturer did not have to spend all the time and money in research, developing and marketing a new drug. The company who develops the innovator drug is the only company that will go through the very complex clinical trial manufacturing process, including pharmaceutical formulation development. Additionally, once a generic is approved by the FDA, competition is added to the market place which always brings prices down.
You may notice that generic drug may have a different appearance from brand name drugs, but that is no cause for worry. Because the brand name drugs are trademarked, generic drugs cannot be made to look exactly the same. But regardless of the appearance, the contents and effectiveness are guaranteed to be the same.