Posted by Tomatheus on September 9, 2013, at 12:54:07
In reply to Re: My meds are working » Tomatheus, posted by doxogenic boy on September 9, 2013, at 10:48:17
Doxogenic boy,
Thank you for your reply. My impression of generic drugs is based primarily on various anecdotes that I've read over the years, so I don't have any expert knowledge on the subject, but I'll share my opinion of generic drugs with you. I tend to think that generic drugs are as good as the brand versions in most cases, but that there are some instances where they may not be as effective or may produce some side effects that the brand versions don't. Also, because of individual differences in the ways that medications affect people, a given generic version of a medication may be acceptable for some individuals, but not for others.
One clear-cut example of a generic version of a medication not being therapeutically equivalent to the brand version involved a generic version of Wellbutrin -- 300-mg "Budeprion XL" tablets. A bioequivalence study that The U.S. Food and Drug Administration conducted beginning in 2010 found that the 300-mg "Budeprion XL" tablets did not release bupropion (the active ingredient in Wellbutrin/Budeprion) into the bloodstream at the same rate and to the same extent that Wellbutrin XL did. After the FDA found the 300-mg "Budeprion XL" tablets to not be therapeutically equivalent to Wellbutrin XL, the companies manufacturing and marketing the Budeprion product removed it from the market.
So, there are definitely instances in which generic drugs aren't therapeutically equivalent to their brand-name counterparts, but the extent to which this occurs doesn't seem to be entirely clear. The FDA investigated the differences between Budeprion XL and Wellbutrin XL (in the case of the 300-mg tablets) because a lot of patients complained about the differences between the generic product and the brand product, but I can only wonder if the agency would do the same with medications that have less people taking them. There could very well be several generic medications that aren't as effective or as tolerable as their brand-name counterparts for most people that haven't received the attention that the 300-mg "Budeprion XL" tablets received because a smaller number of people could be taking the medications. All in all, I would say that there is always some risk involved when a patient switches from a brand version of a medication to a generic version, but I would say that the severity of such a risk is debatable. Some would probably say that the risk of having problems with a generic version of a medication is small, while others might be more concerned. I would probably fall somewhere in the middle.
Well, that sums up my thoughts on generic medications as they compare to the brand versions. Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions on what I've written.
T.
Conditions:
* chronic fatigue, hypersomnia, and related symptoms
* schizoaffective disorderTaking Abilify, niacin, vit D
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