Some medicine is crazy-expensive. Mostly, it’s not for any rare elements. Rather, the price of the patent leads up to this cost. What happens when it expires? Well, the company loses its exclusivity. So other companies can swoop in and steal the glory. They can sell copies. Thus, generic medicine is born.
In short, generic medicine is legal. For it can skip a key cost. Thus, companies can afford to sell them at a fraction of the first price. For example, generic Vicodin puts 88% of the cost back into your pockets. Yet doctors trust big brands. In reality, generic medicine upholds the same standards as its original.
Generic Medicine:
One does not make a new drug every day. So on making one, he or she should patent it. But these patents aren’t permanent, so they expire. Then one can duplicate their medicine. These later copies are generic medicine.
The medicine comes in 3 types:
- Brand medicine:
A company owns this medicine, as it owns the patent.
- Brand generics:
After 17-20 years, patents run out. Then, anyone has the right to sell drugs. These are brand generics.
- Hospital/doctor’s generics:
These reach straight into the hospital or the doctor’s hands. This is a real generic medicine.
Standards For Generic Medicine:
- Pharmaceutical equivalence:
- The generic medicine’s key element must be its original’s.
- Besides, it must have the same route of entry. And it has to keep the same “dosage form”.
- Again, the drug must maintain the strength of the oner.
So this has many parts. As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says, these terms mean:
- Active ingredient:
This is the bit that acts. “Excipients” take no part in drug action. Rather, they give drugs color, handling, shape, and taste. But these are not inert. In a rare case, they may mess up the work of a drug. Thus, we monitor these things strictly.
Route of administration and dosage form:
The oner and generic work in the same way and come in the same form. For example, the modes are the mouth, nose, or eyes, etc. Again, forms are a capsule, drop, or tablet, etc.
Strength:
A generic medicine is equally strong. Generic drugs may differ. But for this, the strength or potency may not suffer. Strength is the bulk of the active ingredient.
Bioequivalence:
A generic drug must do the same things as its oner. So it has to work at the same time. In short, we note how the drug acts inside the body. This is “bioequivalence”.
The Benefits Of Generic Medicine:
Besides the patent price, small companies get to avoid other costs in generic medicine. Thus, it’s easier for them to turn a profit. And for you, too, generic medicine has a lot to offer. Here is why generic medicine is a good choice over brand medicine:
For the seller:
No patent cost:
Generic drugs base off of old ones. As a result, there is no need for a patent. Thus, the sellers of generic medicine can skip a great cost.
Less advertising:
Generic drugs can sell to the old drug’s buyer base. In other words, the buyers are there already. So generic drugs need not put out ads.
State sponsorship:
Finally, states help sellers, too: They ease the requirements to sell generic medicine. For example, shops now need less space at a minimum. Again, they give out fair loans to small agencies so that they thrive.
For the buyer:
A great discount:
The fact that generic medicine sells at 80-85% less is a great plus for buyers. Thus, it makes healthcare affordable in the true sense of the word.
More competition:
More fish in the pool is great for the farmer as they fight with themselves. As a result, buyers are set to get a good deal once in a while.
An array of options:
We do not have a hard time deciding with so many great choices. For example, a drug with NTI will not suit all. Thus, doctors can choose the perfect drug for a patient.
Why Don’t Doctors Prescribe Generic Medicine?
India is one of the biggest exporters of this kind of medicine, yet less than 50% prescribe them. In the US, UK, and China, over 80% of a prescribed medicine is generic. So why aren’t doctors prescribing generic drugs?
Doctors have quality concerns, and patients have a wide range of drives. First, there is an info-gap, so people have no clue about generic drugs. The bold hype of brands adds to this. Second, bio-similars mislead you on off-brand drugs. Third, rare cases enter the public focus and mislead them more. But there is progress; now a doctor has to write generic names of drugs.
Are Generic Drugs Legal?
A generic medicine is all good in the eye of law. But one may not sell the drug without the state’s go. And this is the hard part of generic medicine.
To approve a generic, at first, one has to fill out a form that goes to the authority. In this form, one has to prove that they have made the medicine out of the same stuff. Also, they must prove that it works in the same way. Thus, they may get the go to sell the generic.
The process is cheaper than it is for a brand-name drug. But that doesn’t mean that it’s free.
Conclusion:
So, we, with no cause, deny that generic medicine is a boon. It doesn’t just save our health with no need to break the bank, but it takes us far. It helps small agencies add to wealth. Thus, it helps us be a well-oiled machine.
The cause of our doubts about generic medicine is that we are in the dark on it. So we do not think twice as we take that brand drug prescription from the doc. But what we do not know is that the doc may be in the wrong. Thus, we should take over things and make a sane choice. Next time, try a faceless drug. It might change your life.
