Benefits of generic medicine

If there is one way to save costs for the individual and for society as a whole, it is by using generic medicine drugs rather than the branded ones. This applies to both prescribed and over the counter medicines.

The reason is that each time you use a brand; you unwittingly extend support to the several commercials and advertising behind the brand and the costs associated with that brand. In fact, it is such marketing expenses that are passed on to consumers like you and you end up paying much more for a branded product. Consumers like you and me then blindly request for the branded drug and even if that is not available at the chemist or pharmacist, we tend to ask for an alternative that is also branded. Every time we do this, we are playing into the hands of drug companies and subsidizing the costs they are incurring on such advertising.

It is not as if you get extra medicinal benefits from a branded drug as the composition of the drug undergoes no change. All that has happened is that a generic composition acquires a name which then becomes familiar to the public through aggressive and costly advertising and this brand name is continuously reinforced into the minds of the consumers through advertising such that you automatically choose the branded product over the generic one.

Studies have revealed that the Generic drugs are just as effective as the branded ones and this was concluded after two decades of research. This research was conducted on selected branded cardio vascular drugs used such as calcium channel blockers, beta blockers and statins. It clearly showed that the levels and percentages of the ingredients responsible were pretty much the same. This left the researchers wondering as to what was the main reason these branded drugs were being preferred over the generic ones.

Since this finding was not enough for the researchers, they went a step further and also quizzed doctors and physicians as to why they were prescribing certain drugs. They were in for a rude shock. They were surprised to find that more than 50% of the doctors preferred the branded version over the generic one. The only reason, the researchers concluded was that these doctors received financial benefits from the drug companies in the form of free samples and various other financial incentives to prescribe a particular branded drug. Very often, select doctors get to attend expensive medical seminars organized in another part of the world due to the drug company sponsoring the expenses and this has meant that these doctors are more comfortable prescribing the branded drug as opposed to the generic ones.

However, in an attempt to change this practice, certain medical insurance outfits and some enlightened physicians began to supply generic versions of the branded drugs from their office itself and were gratified to note that the patients took to them quite favorably. It means that there is still hope that people will realize that if they supported the cause of generic medicine drugs, they will be better off them selves and the nation will also not end up spending more on health care.