Search
Related Links

 

 

Informative Articles

100% Natural Penis Enlargement That Works Like Magic!
The penile enlargement patch use a concentrated herbal formula infused into a small, dermal patch which sticks to the body. The Penile Patch System uses advanced technology to feed the formula into the user’s bloodstream in a timely manner just...
Finally...Affordable Prescription Medication without Insurance.
If you are like many Americans, you are without health insurance. And the ranks of the uninsured are growing. According to the National Coalition on Health Care (NCHC), the number of uninsured was a record breaking 45 million in 2003. The growing...
How to Lower Cholesterol for Children?
"Autopsy studies have revealed that many signs of atherosclerosis including scarring are now found in the arterial walls of the babies in this country; that by the age of ten, half children have coronary arterial lesions; and that 100 percent of...
Natural Prevention & Treatment For The Flu: What Your Doctor May Not Know
Flu can affect 10 to 30 percent of the U.S. population each winter. The flu virus can linger in the air for as long as three hours. In close quarters, conditions are ripe for the spread of the virus. That explains why the highest incidence of...
“Nutrition as Attention Deficit Disorder ADHD Alternative Treatment: Help is as Close as the Kitchen.”
The quality of food we eat (or lack thereof) has a profound affect on Attention Deficit Disorder and ADHD. For many people, nutrition alone can effectively work as an ADHD alternative treatment. A growing body of research points to...
 
A Discussion on Generic drugs and brand name drugs

A brand name drug is the version of the drug that is first produced after approval by the FDA. The brand name of the drug is a registered trademark and is marketed and sold under this name. Alongside the trademark registration, most pharmaceutical companies obtain a patent for their new drug to prevent other companies from producing the drug. This patent protection gives the company sole rights to the drug for 20 years.

When a patent expires other companies are then allowed to create their own version of the drug. This version of the drug is called a generic drug. Generic drugs are identical to the brand name drug that it is related to and so therefore contains the same active ingredients as the brand name drug. The quality, safety and efficacy are also identical. Generic drugs may, however, contain various different inactive ingredients such as different coloring agents and preservatives which do not obviously have a therapeutic effect. The brand name drug also has inactive ingredients to create the tablet shape and color, for example, and the reason why the generic inactive ingredients differ is so that the generic pill produced does not infringe on any trademark laws. This explains why generic pills look different from the parent brand name drug. They are however in effect exactly the same with regards to their active ingredients.

The FDA inform us that the generic equivalent of a brand name drug may differ in: * Shape * Release mechanisms * Packaging * Color * Flavor * Preservative * Expiration date/time * Labeling aspects

FDA laws for Generic Drugs * A Generic drug cannot be approved if it does not have an FDA approved brand name drug * Generic drugs should follow the same dosage as that of original drug * Generic drugs must be bio equivalent to the brand name drug * The pharmaceutical company must write down the drug's chemistry and quality control measures. Each step must be written in detail while giving it for FDA review * The FDA reviews the active and inactive ingredients in the generic drug * The FDA reviews the labeling of generic drugs * The FDA continuously reviews and monitors the generic drug's quality after approval

Safety of Generic Drugs

Generic drugs are just as safe as brand name drugs and you are to expect the same risks and benefits as the brand name drug. The clinical and pharmacological effects are the


same. This is of course if the generic drug has been approved by the FDA. The FDAQ carries out studies on any generic drugs to ascertain that they are in fact as effective as the parent brand name drug.

The Price of Generic Drugs

Consistently generic drugs are cheaper than brand name drugs because the investment and research costs that were needed to be done in order to create the brand name drug have already been completed. Therefore a company creating a generic drug can afford to sell the finished product for less. Generic drug prices are usually 30 - 80% cheaper than the original brand name drug.

The Quality of Generic Drugs

There is no compromise at all on the quality of generic drugs, the FDA would not allow that. Both brand drugs and generic drugs must maintain the same production standards of Goog Manufacturing Practice ( GMP ). In fact 50% of all prescriptions within the USA and approx 40% in Canada are generic drug prescriptions. That is proof in itself that buying generic drugs is just as safe. Things to Remember about Generic Drugs

* Generic drugs are not inferior to brand name drugs * Generic drugs have a B rating but in no way does that mean they are a lesser form of the drug * Follow your doctors advice as he/she may have reason to prescribe a brand name drug over a generic drug * Generic drugs do not take longer to work * Not all medicines are available in generic form * The FDA ensure that no generic drugs are sub standard drugs * Be aware that generic drugs may look different to the parent brand name drug

and Finally...

It seems that consumers always confuse the effectiveness and safety of a generic drug in comparison to the brand name drug because the original brand name drug has a higher price. However, rest assured that the generic drug has exactly the same active ingredients and so perhaps saving money on your prescription and non prescription is easier than you think.

About the author:

If you would like completely free brand name and generic drug price comparison advice on the most reputable online pharmacies, free medical news updates, a free email price comparison service for any drug available in the USA, access to free health discussion forums and more then visit our site at: DiscountPharmacyFind er.com

 

National Library of Medicine - National Institutes of Health
Part of the National Institutes of Health, the National Library of Medicine offers access to health information for consumer, patient, and physicians ...
www.nlm.nih.gov
 
Health and Medical Information produced by doctors - MedicineNet.com
Doctor-produced health and medical information written for you to make informed decisions about your health concerns.
www.medicinenet.com
 
Medicine in the Yahoo! Directory
Collection of sites for health professionals, with sections on specific disciplines, organizations, continuing education, conferences, publications, ...
dir.yahoo.com
 
MedlinePlus Health Information from the National Library of Medicine
Health information from the National Library of Medicine. Easy access to Medline and Health topics, medical dictionaries, directories and publications.
medlineplus.gov
 
Medicine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Medicine is a branch of health science and the sector of public life ... The practice of medicine combines both science as the evidence base and art in the ...
en.wikipedia.org
 
Journal Home - Nature Medicine
Nature Medicine has a vacancy for a Locum Assistant Editor for six months. The position involves working in all aspects of the editorial process, ...
www.nature.com
 
The New England Journal of Medicine: Research & Review Articles on ...
The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) is a weekly general medical journal that publishes new medical research findings, review articles, and editorial ...
content.nejm.org
 
eMedicine Clinical Knowledge Base
eMedicine features up-to-date, searchable, peer-reviewed medical journals, online physician reference textbooks, and a full-text article database in 62 ...
www.emedicine.com
 
Open Directory - Health: Medicine
the entire directory, only in Health/Medicine. Top: Health: Medicine (11429). Description · Medical Specialties (4888); Surgery (2265) ...
dmoz.org
 
the www virtual library biosciences medicine
www.ohsu.edu/cliniweb/wwwvl/ - Similar pages
 
Medicine - home
Bimonthly journal covering the latest results in clinical investigation relevant to hospital and office practice.
www.md-journal.com
 
Institute of Medicine
The Institute of Medicine serves as adviser to the nation to improve health.
www.iom.edu
 
ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News
Medical Research News. Health news on everything from cancer to nutrition. Full-text, images, updated daily.
www.sciencedaily.com
 
Google Directory - Health > Medicine
Search only in Medicine Search the Web. Medicine. Health > Medicine, Go to Directory Home. Categories. Alternative Medicine (6308) Basic Sciences (66) ...
www.google.com
 
the world wide web virtual library biosciences medicine
www.mcb.harvard.edu/biopages/medicine.html - Similar pages
 
PLoS Medicine - A Peer-Reviewed Open-Access Journal
PLoS Medicine is a peer-reviewed, international, open-access journal published ... Every issue of PLoS Medicine contains a selection of readers' responses. ...
medicine.plosjournals.org
 
Medicine On-Line - Medicine Online -The International Medical Journal
Medicine Online - independent and peer reviewed journal published by Priory Medical Journals - priory.com.
www.priory.com
 
Entrez PubMed
PubMed is a service of the US National Library of Medicine that includes over 16 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
 
Stanford University School of Medicine
Home Page of the Stanford University School of Medicine.
med.stanford.edu
 
Medicine OnLine
Meds.com offers medical information and education on cancer (lung cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, leukemia) and HIV / AIDS for patients, ...
www.meds.com