Generic or Brand-Name Drugs: You Decide

US pharmaceutical costs can be very expensive. Finding ways to reduce costs is important and necessary for many Americans. Purchasing generic drugs over brand name drugs is a way to save money. However, not all generic drugs are equivalent to their brand name. General medicines According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Americans saved $ 158 billion in 2010 by purchasing generic FDA approved medicines instead of branded medicines. Back then, the average cost of generics was 80-85% lower than the brand drugs, and eighths of the prescription drugs were generic drugs.

Generic drugs are chemically equivalent, less expensive medicines. Generic drugs require the same dosage, strength and active ingredients as the brand pharmaceuticals; therefore, they have the same risks and benefits. In order to ensure compliance, the FDA's generic drug program has undergone a rigorous review (3,500 inspections per year at the manufacturing plant). Generic medicine seems like a good way to save money, but generic medicines can only be sold after the brand patent is over. Due to this compulsory exclusion period (period during which generic drugs can not be sold) for many brand drugs, delays in entry of generic drugs into the market are expected. Brand products must pass high costs of previous research to ensure safety and effectiveness. This will mainly explain the advanced pricing between the two groups.

Generic drugs are strictly reviewed to meet the same efficacy, safety, dosage, strength, stability and quality as branded drugs. Generic drugs were developed after the brand name was established. As a result, due to the approval of many generic drugs, the approval process has been shortened due to the replication of branded drugs. The cost of branded medicine will be high in order to repeat the FDA's research clinical trial which requires drug holding in the market for the time, money and resources invested by pharmaceutical companies. Since pharmaceutical companies have to invest more money to fund research in order to do this, the price of brand drugs will be much higher when sold to consumers.