Generic Equivalent Facts

As the cost of prescriptions continues to rise, one option available to you as a consumer is to choose generic substitution when available. Once the patent has expired on a drug, a generic equivalent can be manufactured by another pharmaceutical company. The generic manufacturer must meet the same standards set by the FDA that e manufacturers are required to meet. Your pharmacist answer any questions you may have about your medication and ssible cost saving alternatives.

More than one-third of all prescriptions in the U.S. are filled with generic drugs.

The use of generic drugs is increasing every year. As brand-name drugs lose their patents, equivalent generic drugs are approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). Ask your physician and pharmacist if your prescription can be filled with a therapeutically equivalent generic drug.

Generic drugs save money for you and your insurance plan.

Generic prices can be 15-50 percent less than the brand-name drug equivalents, which can help keep your insurance premiums low and benefits high. Because generic manufacturers compete against each other, the prices of generic drugs remain affordable year after year. Brand-name drug companies, however, usually do not respond to generic price competition, and some brand-name drug prices are rising higher than the rate of inflation.

Generic drugs are strictly regulated by the FDA.

Generic drugs, both prescription and over-the-counter, require FDA approval. Generic manufacturers must demonstrate to the FDA that a generic drug has the same medical effect as its brand-name equivalent by measuring the rate and extent of drug absorption. Generic drugs must also contain identical amounts of the same active drug ingredients, in the same dosage form and strength, as their brand-name counterparts.

Generic drugs have had a long history of safe and effective use.

Since 1970, the FDA has approved almost 9,000 generic drug products as therapeutically equivalent to brand-name products. These generic drugs have been used billions of times by millions of patients, demonstrating again that brand-name and generic drugs have the same effect in the body.

The FDA's standards for quality are the same for all manufacturers.

For each drug manufactured, pharmaceutical companies - whether they make brand-name or generic drugs - must demonstrate that their approved manufacturing processes will produce a consistent quality every time. About 55 percent of generic drugs in the U.S. are made by companies who manufacture brand-name drugs. The other 45 percent are produced by companies that specialize in generic drugs. All prescription drugs have generic names, and all states encourage generic substitutions. The generic name of a drug is its chemical or scientific name, which describes the drug's active ingredients. Brand-name labels are really only used for marketing purposes. Because of the significant savings and excellent quality that generic drugs offer, all 50 states have laws allowing your pharmacist, with your doctor's approval, to substitute equivalent generic drugs for prescriptions written using the brand name.

The best source of information about prescription drugs is your pharmacist.

As a health professional with many years of pharmaceutical training and experience, your pharmacist can answer any questions you may have about your medications and their proper use.