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When it comes to medication ... think generic None of us has money to flush down the toilet every month. Everything in our economy is becoming more and more expensive so, for many of us, it is important to be sure we get the best bang for our buck. My wife and I are relatively healthy people who have some relatively common conditions that require ongoing prescriptive medications. Because I am covered with an insurance plan, I never thought to look hard at alternatives for the brand name prescriptions that my physician was giving us. Last month the co-pay for one of the medications that my wife and I both use had gone from $25 to $50. That brought the monthly out of pocket total for us after insurance to $250. At that point I decided to contact my physician and ask him if there were any generic equivalents to the brand name medications we were taking. The result of his research was that there were equivalents for all but one of the medications and he wrote us prescriptions for those that were. Amazingly my monthly medication bill changed my out of pocket cost to just $19.00 a month. I know none of us has money to burn, but there are a lot of things I can do with an extra $231 per month. Many people are under the impression that generic medications are somehow inferior, but that is just simply not true. These medications are subject to the same FDA regulations that brand name medications are. The definition of a generic drug according to FDA is "a drug product that is comparable to a brand-reference listed drug product in dosage form, strength, route of administration, quality and performance characteristics, and intended use." Over half of generic medications are actually produced by the same manufacturer under the generic label. In 1984 generic medications accounted for only 14% of the prescription medications sold. In 2006 that has moved to 54%. The significanceof the cost savings to the patients is startling when you realize that the 54% represents only 12% of the total cost of prescription drugs. It has been estimated that if consumers were to buy generic products whenever possible, the savings would be approximately $17 billion. Some medications obviously are not available in generic form and your doctor may not be able to change the medications you are currently on. Ask your doctor for guidance as to whether any of the brand name medications you are currently taking are available in generic form. You may be pleasantly surprised at the savings.
For more information on generic medication go to the FDA web site at www.fda.gov. There you may search for "Generic Drugs Overview" or "ANDA Review Process."
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