Brand Vs. Generic, What's the Difference?
Essentially, there is NO DIFFERENCE in therapeutic effect between brand and generic. In order for a generic medication to be considered "generic," it must have the SAME amount of active pharmaceutical ingredients according to the FDA. Generics are much cheaper because multiple manufacturers can produce it as a result of a patent ending on Brand-name drugs. If you are shopping at your pharmacy, look at the back of the label under "Active Ingredient" to compare and see if a generic product is the same as it's brand-name counterpart.
Many people still receive brand-name drugs simply because of preference or perhaps placebo effect where they believe brand-name drugs are more effective. In very rare instances, brand-name drugs may be better than generics for certain patients as there have been studies where certain patients responded better to a certain brand-name drug than its generic counterpart. Allergies to inactive ingredients such as coloring dyes may also contribute to these special cases where patients may need a brand over a generic medication. These are very rare instances and it goes to show what works for most people, sometimes won't work for some people. If you are looking to save money whether it is over-the-counter medications or on your prescriptions, generics will save you much more than brand-name in the long run. Also it is important to emphasize that the therapeutic effects are the same since generics contains the same amount of active pharmaceutical ingredients as Brand-name drugs.
For more information about Brand and Generic products, the website below is a great resource as well:
http://www.healthsmart.com/SmarterHealth/GenericVsBrandDrugs.aspx
Many people still receive brand-name drugs simply because of preference or perhaps placebo effect where they believe brand-name drugs are more effective. In very rare instances, brand-name drugs may be better than generics for certain patients as there have been studies where certain patients responded better to a certain brand-name drug than its generic counterpart. Allergies to inactive ingredients such as coloring dyes may also contribute to these special cases where patients may need a brand over a generic medication. These are very rare instances and it goes to show what works for most people, sometimes won't work for some people. If you are looking to save money whether it is over-the-counter medications or on your prescriptions, generics will save you much more than brand-name in the long run. Also it is important to emphasize that the therapeutic effects are the same since generics contains the same amount of active pharmaceutical ingredients as Brand-name drugs.
For more information about Brand and Generic products, the website below is a great resource as well:
http://www.healthsmart.com/SmarterHealth/GenericVsBrandDrugs.aspx
Answer: They both work the same, but Generics (right side) costs less than the Brand-name (left side)
Source of Picture: http://www.squawkfox.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/generic-drugs.png
