In painkiller isles in supermarkets there are the generic supermarket packaged drugs and stuff like Nurofen/Anadin/Lemsip and whatnot that generally cost about 3 times more. Looking at the ingredients of a big brand name flu remedy I noticed that it was mostly paracetamol (aka acetaminophen), caffeine and phenylephrine, all of which I could buy as separate generic tablets for a fraction of the price.
Are you getting totally ripped off if you go for a big brand name? Other than a placebo/nocebo effect if you perceive that you’re getting a superior/inferior product? I’m guessing paracetamol is paracetamol whether you’re getting it in a 25p carton in tablet form or £3 caplets, right?
Thanks for replies; y’all could save us a bit of cash.
Just read the ingredients posted on the back of the containers. Many contain the same active ingredients. All claim to be the best, superior to all the rest. Go from there.
Like most things in life, the answer is a firm maybe.
The quality of the drug depends more on the facility where it is made than the name on the label. The quality of the raw materials and the process control. The big name companies may contract manufacturing to the same facilities that make the store brand. However, when it comes to enforcement, the FDA prefers to go after the bigger names - their quality requirements drive the market - and the EMA may be the same.
Store brands and generics will have the same active ingredients…but maybe not the same inactive ingredients. This probably isn’t an issue for your pain pill, but it can impact liquid suspensions. A friend of mind was on steroid eye drops, and his doctor specifically wanted him to get non-generic. He said it provided consistency in dosing, because the active ingredients were properly dispersed.
I can’t say how accurate it is…but it sounds reasonable to me. Maybe one of our pharmacists will stop by and comment.
-D/a
It’s amazing how many name brand products have a far cheaper doppelganger with the same active ingredients and sometimes even greater quantities of them for a fraction of the price.
Only days ago I discovered that the store brand mouthwash I had never noticed has the same formulation as Listerine at about 30% of the price.
Nappy soakers and laundry soakers contain sodium percarbonate in various concentrations, the cheaper brands commonly stronger than the name brands. Many bleaches and cleaning agents are in the same boat. Nearly all name brand products are a waste of money.
Nearly every common over the counter drug is available in a much cheaper version. In Australia many are packaged for the pharmacy chains. Recently I bought some medication for diarrhoea, the default choice is Imodium. When I went to get some I was surprised to find an array of choices. A box of Imodium worked out at 70 cents per capsule, while the charmingly named Gastro-Stop are 25 cents each.
The name brand products are pretty much a rip off. I don’t know about over seas (the whole paracetamol thing gives you away, over here we call it Acetaminophen), but it is all pretty much marketing.
Advil and Motrin are the same thing as regular generic Ibuprofen, pretty much all the nose sprays have the same medication in them, and you’ll find the exact same drug marketed in different ways even with the same ingredients. Excedrin Migraine and regular Excedrin is the same product, but the Migraine version costs more… Heck, it is even the same with the generics, the store I work at, the generic diphenhydramine (benadryl) that says “Allergy” on the package is a dollar cheaper then the exact same product, exact same amount, with “Sleep Aid” on the package.
When patients ask me, I always recommend the generic, drugs aren’t like saran wrap, garbage bags, or Ketchup, where brand really matters. They are all regulated the same by the FDA (again, in the US, who knows about overseas). Actually, there is only one brand I actually recommend to people, Mucinex, and that is only because they have a patent on the extended release. It is the exact same medicine as Robitussin, but you only have to take Mucinex every 12 hours, vs. Robitussin (and the generics) every 4.
Happy to oblige!
The only difference between brand name and generics for RX or OTC medications is the inactive ingredients (the things used to actually make the tablets). However, to get a generic approved by the FDA, they have to prove that the product performs the same way in the body, normally by taking blood measurements to verify the amount in the body is the same between brand and generic. They are allowed about a 5% variance by law, however in practice they are below 1%.
So, there are only a few drugs that brand vs. generic really matter. They are the drugs with a very narrow “therapeutic index”, or where the level isn’t enough, just right, or too much, is very very small. The only RX drugs where this makes a big difference is Thyroid drugs (Levothyroxine vs. Synthroid), anti-coagulants (Warfarin vs. Coumadin), and some anti-seizure drugs (and for completeness, there are some problems with some Wellbutrin extended release product generics). However, in these cases, it is a matter of whatever you start with, stick with, otherwise you need to go through the whole titration period again. If you start on the generic, then it is totally fine to use.
I thought I read that some manufactures make both regular and generic versions of the same drug.
Like they’d have the Advil brand name, and switch a few of the inactive ingredients or the shape and make generic pills for Walmart or Walgreens and such.
I take generics, but I know people who will swear only Tylenol or Motrin works for them.
But when you go to get the prescription for the generic refilled, you might get a generic made by a different drug company which has a different level, correct?
Sorry, I’m not trying to be difficult, but “cite please”.
Yes, about 20 years ago, there may have been some differences in generic versus brand name thyroxine preparations. That is not the case now, nor has it been recently. Cite. And, from that link, I quote:
Generally, for non-extended release medications, the notion of differences between generic and brand name products is without foundation (and mostly represents the desperate attempts of brand name drug manufacturers to protect their turf and their wallets).
I work in ophthalmology (IANAD/N), and I know that our docs say this about one particular eyedrop, but embarrassingly, I can never remember which one it is. :smack: Often they’ll ask their patients regarding this drug if they have good prescription coverage, and if they do, they’ll indicate no generic substitutions. If not, they say the generic is fine, just not preferred.
Yes, they do, but they don’t have to switch any inactive ingredients. If they do, it is because the inactive ingredient is cheaper.
Some facilities make only the generics, some make generics and name brands; some probably make only name brands. In addition, most medications, both name brand and store brands, are made at more than one facility.
Theoretically, there should be no difference in the medications. However, these facilities have their own quality systems; even contracts with the Name Brand companies can not ensure identical systems. In additions, the manufacturers typically do not make the active or inactive ingredients; they buy them. Control of suppliers and raw materials can vary lot between facilities, and between medications made for different labels within a facility.
In short, there can be significant differences in quality, purity, and strength in different brands and different lots of the “same” medication. Name brands are not necessarily better - google Johnson & Johnson warning letter if you have any doubt about that.
I heard the claim that brand-name and generic medications are not always exactly the same rather recently from my doctor friend. He doesn’t work for a pharma company, but for a university clinic. It’s his personal observation (might also be studies in addition) that some patients do well with brand A, but not with generic B, due to different inactive components.
He also complains that the pharma companies are not required to list all ingredients (only the active one) and can therefore switch from X to Y without any marking on the package. This is obviously good for patent protection, but very bad for doctors, who wonder why patients suddenly get worse, to figure out after long trial that some minor component in their meds was changed and that person happens to react to that.
For over-the-counter pills, I buy ibuprofen at the Dollar Tree for, well, a dollar, and it works wonders. It’s about twice the price elsewhere, for twice as much. Except at Rite-Aid, where they charge something like $8 for a bottle!!! (you can jump through hoops to get it cheaper, bring in a coupon, use a store card, wait till there’s a “sale”. RIP OFF!)…Now, I do wish Extra Strength Tylenol would resolve its issues, it’s been months and months since I’ve seen any on the store shelves, and if they set out a handful, people snap it up immediately. There is a store brand right next to it supposedly the same, but I know people who just don’t believe it and insist only “real” Tylenol will do.
Let’s see. I can buy Excedrin Migraine, or I can buy Bayer and Tylenol, or I can buy Shop Rite asprin and acetaminophen for one-half the price and get a cup of coffee for the caffeine.
What the evidence suggests is that
a) brand name drugs are perceived to be more effective than generics
b) more expensive drugs are perceived to be more effective than less expensive drugs
However- when the same drugs are then put in different packaging and the experiement repeated, it has been shown that this difference in effect is due to a placebo effect, rather than any actual difference in effect.
People think brand names work better than generics, therefore they expect them to work better…therefore they DO work better.
This has everything to do with psychology, and almost nothing to do with pharmacology.
FWIW, this doctor exclusively stocks her medicine cabinet with the cheapest generic versions of all the common household remedies, and prescribes ALMOST EVERYTHING generically to her patients.