Generics Versus Brand-Name Drugs

By David Spero Are generic drugs as good as their brand-name rivals? Hopefully yes, as millions of people rely on generics to make medicines affordable. Is the claimed superiority of brand-name drugs just advertising, or is there a real difference? An awful lot of people with diabetes are taking generic drugs. Most people take metformin, not Glucophage. (Generic names usually don't have a capital letter, while brand names typically are capitalized.) Many take glipizide, a generic sulfonylurea drug, while few take Glucotrol, its brand-name version. Are there any differences in effectiveness? Under federal law, generic drugs must be chemically identical to the FDA-approved brand-name drug. According to Melissa Stopler MD, generic drugs "are copies of brand-name drugs that have exactly the same dosage, intended use, effects, side effects…risks, safety, and strength as the original drug." So they ought to act the same in our bodies. Usually they do, but some people think there may be significant differences between generics and brand names. How could that be if the ingredients are the same? All the active ingredients could be the same, but the inactive ingredients could make a big difference. According to Drugs.com "Examples of inactive ingredients include binding materials (which may be excipients), dyes, preservatives, and flavoring agents." "Excipients" are bulking agents and fillers that give pills their size. Those don't sound like they could affect a drug much, exc...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - Category: Diabetes Authors: Source Type: blogs