Generic Medication

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Originally Posted By: jcwit

How do you know they are NOT the same?

Also how do you know they are NOT working the same? By the way you feel? That in itself is speculative. Or are you a Dr.


You're right, it is speculative. It's speculative in the eyes of the doctor and also speculative in the eyes of the pharmaceutical company that makes the generic version, but after trying it for 52 days and comparing its effects to the other generic versions that I've taken over the course of 19 years, I know it doesn't work.
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Originally Posted By: jcwit

How do you know they are NOT the same?

Also how do you know they are NOT working the same? By the way you feel? That in itself is speculative. Or are you a Dr.


You're right, it is speculative. It's speculative in the eyes of the doctor and also speculative in the eyes of the pharmaceutical company that makes the generic version, but after trying it for 52 days and comparing its effects to the other generic versions that I've taken over the course of 19 years, I know it doesn't work.


And just what is this medication for, and how do you know it does not work. Give us some substantianl ground or proof, something other than it how you feel. What does your Dr. say?

For that matter is it life threating or just nail fungus?

I know some meds do not work as well as others, the VA took me off gliberide for diabetics. Reason is there other health issues from taking it, but it did keep my sugar levels down. Dr. tried 3 different meds to no avail, they not only did not keep my sugar levels down but had side effects I just could not handle. Dr. jumped my insulin intake up slightly and everythings been fine since. Taking insulin is less harmful than taking some of the oral meds.
 
Originally Posted By: jcwit
Give us some substantianl ground or proof, something other than it how you feel. What does your Dr. say?


I wish I could give you proof, but it's not a drug that's verifiable through a blood test.

I haven't had a chance to talk to the doctor about it yet, but in the meantime, she was
nice enough to write an outside scrip for a different generic version that I know works.
 
So its still"just how you feel" about it.

You will not even say what its about.

OK, I have a problem and generic asprin didn't cut it.
 
Originally Posted By: rshaw125
Big Pharma lobbied massively to keep competition out of ACA and medicare prescription drug coverage. They won.

I would check into buying the name brand from an accredited online pharmacy in Canada. The state of Maine just made this legal. I have bought prescription drugs from Canada and Australia saved big.


Really?
I'm paying 400 a week for pain meds. 2 herniated disks. It gets so bad I'm lucky to drive to the job sites to oversee the men,never mind putting a pouch on and working.
I'd go broke if I had to pay more. Obviously America isn't cheaper than Canada for some things.
 
' Obviously America isn't cheaper than Canada for some things'

No Canada is cheaper. The US, typically, has the highest price prescription drugs in the world. Big Pharma lobbied to continue to make it illegal to buy prescription drugs from Canada,UK, Australia.

The ones I have purchased from Canada were half price.Nexium was half price.
 
I only use generic, and patent already expired medication, unless there is a reason I don't buy name brand stuff. My wife works in a big pharma and I have a few pharmacist assistant friends and they all said that they have to past tests to be identical to the original formula of the drug (likely name brand) down to the dot to qualify.

Now if you are concern that cheaper meds are not made well due to production method not being followed after the initial testing, that's a different issue (and who's to say name brand drugs won't have the same problem). But in general I would trust a big pharmacy (ie Walgreen or Target) to sell me good quality meds that are not poorly made and risk being sued by the millions.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
We don't use any medications whatsoever, but I was looking at the pamphlet that Aetna sent for policy updates, and it has its usual list of preferred generics and name brand meds. It also had a section of name brand stuff that could only be used/preferred on an insurance basis after the suitable generic was tried and determined to be ineffective.

That implies to me that this kind of thing happens more often than I would know...

What you outlined above is a fairly common practice depending on how the company that manages the prescription plan feels about the practice. The action varies depending on the drug category, and is much more common in categories where there are proven generic equivalents, or the risk of changing medications is not all that great. (Of course that risk is a matter of disagreement for some).

Originally Posted By: Donald

On a related topic, the best way for us to handle the crazy costs of drugs is to write your congressman and demand that Medicare be allowed to negotiate drug prices. Once Medicare does it, the insurance companies will jump in also.

Insurance companies may not negotiate the price of a product but they negotiate discounts on the product on the back end for meeting certain conditions. The same goes in many cases for Medicare (though it is not as common). One example is through a similar actions like JHZR2 outlined above. Unfortunately, I doubt these savings always make it back to the consumer.
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Originally Posted By: jcwit

How do you know they are NOT the same?

Also how do you know they are NOT working the same? By the way you feel? That in itself is speculative. Or are you a Dr.


You're right, it is speculative. It's speculative in the eyes of the doctor and also speculative in the eyes of the pharmaceutical company that makes the generic version, but after trying it for 52 days and comparing its effects to the other generic versions that I've taken over the course of 19 years, I know it doesn't work.



I have hard evidence in two examples.

In my father's case, the effects of one of the drugs he was on was clearly identifiable in blood tests. On the name brand, the desired result was obtained. On the generic, the result was NOT obtained. Verified by multiple doctors in more than one set of trials.

In my wife's case, the generic blood pressure med does not work, while the original version does. Again, verified over several years by multiple health care professionals.

Generics are supposed to have identical effects, but sometimes do not.
 
I take generic for the BP and chorlesteral and it has worked fine. From what the pharmacists and doctors have told me sometimes you need to find a different provider of the generic version. Some providers aren't real great at maintaining the right level of medication.
 
ON the other hand even the brand name drugs have been found to have doctored results. Sometimes after being on the market for several years. While the name brand is probably the better choice of the two many people are stuck with the problem in the difference in the cost between what the insurance companies will pay. In my case they will only pay what the generic would cost and then you pay the difference. In some cases that can be quite a bit. If I can get generic and get good results I have no problem with it. On the other hand my wife hasn't had good results with anything other than the name brand drug that she sometimes needs to use. Even though we can show where the generic didn't work for her the insurance company still won't pay for the name brand. Luckily she doesn't need it very often.
 
Synthroid works for me, but generic levoxyl does not work as well. And, it's not just a matter of taking more.

In fact, Levoxyl leaves me with lab verifiable issues. Where Synthroid does not.
 
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