Just What Exactly Are Generic Drugs, And How Are They Different From Brand Name Medications?

When you have been dropping your prescription in at the pharmacy you may have been asked if you would like a generic

. There are many people who do not fully understand what that means and so they decide not to get it in case it is the wrong thing. However, if you do take a medicine regularly, then you should know about generic drugs and decide for yourself whether you would like to take them.

There are new drugs that are being researched and then developed in pharmaceutical companies all the time. When a company has made a new drug that they want to bring to the market, they have to patent it and then submit it for approval with the FDA. When the company has a patent for the medication, other companies cannot manufacture the same drug and this protects the company that created the medicine against losing money on the research and development.

When the drug patent is nearing expiration, other companies can then apply to be allowed to manufacture that medication too. The drugs that are manufactured by companies other than the one that created the drug are known as generics. These are composed the same way as the original medicine, but they are less expensive for the consumer to buy at the point of sale.

There are a few reasons the costs are lower on generic medications. The first is that developing medications is expensive and the company has to recoup the costs they incurred in creating the medicine. Next there are usually high marketing and advertising costs that are associated with a new medication. Advertising is done to the public, as well as to health professionals such as doctors and pharmacists. There are medical representatives who are sent to visit them and leave samples and merchandising materials.

Some people tend to worry that the less expensive version of the medication is not the same standard as the brand name. This is a common misconception: the drugs are still high quality and this is constantly monitored by the FDA. The generic manufacturers cannot make the drug without having had to meet stringent standards to show the composition is safe.

There are a couple of other misconceptions people have about generic drugs. One of these is that they are not as strong or that they take a longer time to be absorbed and work in your body: this is untrue, they work in exactly the same way as the brand name does. Other people have the idea that the cheaper version is manufactured in sub-standard facilities to the brand version and this is also completely untrue.

Although the medication is the same, the generic version will always look different to the brand name. This is because the law states they have to look different. The shape, size or color of the medication may be quite different from the original one, but that does not mean that they are different medications.

by: Ben Pate

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