Because of the sky rocketing prices of basic commodities and health care services, people are now looking for cheaper alternatives to allow them to get the best bang for their buck. This is the reason why the demand for generic medications is expected to increase in the coming years. In fact, in America, eight out of ten prescriptions are filled for generic medications.
To help you know more about generic medicines, here are some of the commonly asked questions about them.
Question #1: Are generic drugs just as safe and as effective as branded medications?
This is perhaps one of the top questions that consumers ask when buying generic medicines. Know that all generic drugs are required, by law, to be made with the same quality and effectiveness as brand name drugs. This means that they have to meet the FDA standards for quality, safety and effectiveness. In essence, generic medicines contain the same active ingredient found in their brand name counterpart. However, the only difference is that, generic drugs are low-cost versions. In short, they are sold cheaper than branded drugs. Though that may the case, generic drugs performs in the same way as branded medicines with very little variability.
Question #2: Does generic medicines have lower quality than brand name drugs?
Just because generic medicines are sold cheap doesn’t automatically mean they are made of lower quality. The reason why manufacturers of generic medicines are able to sell these drugs for much lower prices than brand name medicines is because they don’t pay for expensive marketing, advertising, and product promotion. In addition to that, unlike those manufacturing brand name drugs, generic drugs need not go through repeated clinical trials that can be quite costly. Furthermore, since a number of generic drug companies are allowed to market the same generic drug, this creates tighter competition among generic drug manufacturers thus resulting to lower drug cost.
Question #3: Why do some generic drugs do not have the same color and look as with their brand name counterpart?
Different types of inactive ingredients are used when manufacturing drugs. The same is true with generics. The law does not necessarily impose that generic drugs look exactly as their branded versions. But although different fillers, preservatives and dyes are used when making them, it is important that they are made with the same active ingredient to duplicate the effectiveness and safety of the brand name medicine.
While flavor, color and inactive ingredients of generic medicines may vary, FDA strictly requires that generic medicines must perform and contain the exact key ingredient as their brand name counterparts. So whether you are buying generic Canada drugs online or those sold from local pharmacies, rest assured these drugs will offer you with the same quality and effectives but at a much lower cost.