# Supermarket Pharmaceuticals

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermarket-pharmaceuticals/50757>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 18, 2001, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermarket-pharmaceuticals/50757 "2001-01-18T21:14:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\
**Post date:** [January 18, 2001, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermarket-pharmaceuticals/50757/1 "2001-01-18T21:14:40Z")

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Has there been shown to be any substantive difference between the effects of a brand-name over the counter medicine (say, Advil) and its generic store brand counterpart?

Does sharing the same active ingredient really mean that they work equally well?

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**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\
**Post date:** [January 18, 2001, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermarket-pharmaceuticals/50757/2 "2001-01-18T21:41:33Z")

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Depends.

Using cheaper ingredients may alter the bio-availability of the drug. Sometimes, there is no appreciable difference between generic drugs and brand-name, but sometimes generic drug companies use cheaper versions of the ingredients which may affect the efficacy.