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In some very extreme/rare cases it does matter. Something like ADHD medication can make a difference. One of the most difficult months I've had has been a mont
by TheLegace 13y ago
In some very extreme/rare cases it does matter.
Something like ADHD medication can make a difference. One of the most difficult months I've had has been a month where I tried the generic and the side effects were way worse than the brand name at same dosage.
- logn 13y agoIn generics they can change the inactive ingredients and obviously they don't always use the same equipment or facilities to produce it. Some people have allergies to inactive ingredients which may explain the different side effects. But in my mind the generics are just as good as name brand, albeit sometimes different. I guess I'd be just as likely to react poorly to the inactive ingredients in the name brand and might find a generic better in some cases.
- haldujai 13y agoActually that's not true. Generics (at least in Canada but probably true elsewhere as well) only have to give between 85%-120% of the dose of the brand name drug, this is despite having the same official dosage as printed on the label. The difference comes from preparation, pill coatings, and inactive ingredients.
- kvb 13y agoThat's right. The impact that this has on the quality of the medication is dependent on the dose-response curve. I wouldn't expect this to be a big deal for painkillers, for instance, but it could easily cause noticeable differences elsewhere.
- shubb 13y agoAlso, my friend who works at a pharma factory says brand names have much tighter quality control - more batches are tested with far less tolerance. In addition, some of the details of the chemicals (such as I guess the angles of the molecules) may be different, because the generic manufacturer imperfectly reverse engineers the process used to make the drug. Clinical trials to validate the generic are less strict.
- SoftwareMaven 13y agoI once took a medication through a skin patch. The same issue: the generic did not deliver the medication consistently at all. The patch was supposed to be replaced every three days, so I'd get a huge rush of medication the first day and next to nothing the last day. What was worse was that there were two generics. One was as described, the other actually was fine. The moral, for me, is to be very cautious with generics. I believe most of them are fine (I would never pay full price for Tylenol :), but the more critical the medication is to me, the more research I will do on the generic.
- npsimons 13y agoI'm no expert on this, but just guessing here: have pills been around longer than patches? Perhaps manufacturing pills is better understood/easier to get right, so you are probably safe with generics in pill form, but will want to double-check on generics in any other form.
- refurb 13y agoThat's very true. Creating an instant release generic is nowhere near as difficult as producing an extended release or transdermal formulation. The FDA recently pulled a 300mg generic bupropion generic because the extended release formation produced nowhere near what the branded medication did. Most generics are equivalent to the branded medication, but there are exceptions out there. http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2012/12/05/fda-pulls-one-generic-form-of-wellbutrin-off-the-market http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2012/12/0...
- oxide 13y agolemme guess. fentanyl? if so, you're a liar. the generic patches undergo thousands of tests before a doctor ever has one prescribed. sorry to burst your anecdotal evidence bubble. but you are fabricating things.
- DanBC 13y agoThere are less confrontational, more useful, ways to convey your point than to call people liars. 'Anecdotal evidence bubbles' are fascinating. Try posting links to research about the placebo effect instead of resorting to name calling.
- sbank 13y agoI'm curious, which ADHD medication and generic did you use? I'm on Ritalin myself.