Posted by bleauberry on April 27, 2010, at 18:52:53
In reply to proof of superiority of branded medication, posted by desolationrower on April 27, 2010, at 0:49:29
No doubt there is a real issue here. One of my doctors won't even prescribe generics because he has seen too many problems with them. He is one of the few doctors I've ever seen that actually takes pride in the challenge of getting someone better. Generics are like his opponent in that game.
That said, he mentioned one drug that is better in generic than brand. So it goes both ways, but generally in favor of the brand.
For sure, either way, there is a difference that shows up in enough people to not be someone's imagination and to not be a placebo phenomenon.
My doctor said when he retires he is going to write a book on it, and he is constantly gathering the facts and case studies along the way.
I did some google searching a few months ago on this topic. Most of the hits said there was no difference. But they were blanket claims without any real deep explanation. The other hits however explained in great scientific detail while brand and generic are different. There is a lot more to the story than you know.
I don't recall where, but there have been some small informal studies comparing brand and generic. No differences were found. However, that conclusion is flawed. Here's why. When meds were switched, a ton of people either got better or relapsed. A bunch of stuff happened. However, looking at the whole pie, the same percentage of people were still either well or not well as before the switch. Different people though, but they were looking at overall statistics not at actual experiences within the group. A lot of the people that were previously well now were not, and vica versa, but the total percentage within the whole group remained unchanged. Make sense?
poster:bleauberry
thread:945234
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100425/msgs/945313.html