Switching over to Generics

So the pharmacist tests how much and quality of the drugs before sale?

Oh, sorry, misunderstood. No why would they do that? The manufacturer does that.

I just went down the road for some groceries and checked with the pharmacist about generics in Australia, he said here they have to be 100% the same mg of active ingredient as the brand name, no differing. But he said it might be different in different countries.

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That’s correct and they have to abide by FDA regulations which is why I posted the link to the FDA website so that folks can look up FDA information regarding generics for themselves.

I take generics too because the savings is so significant.

Why would someone bedazzle that poor turtles shell like that?

It just seems very odd that the pharmacists would say something completely different. That’s all.

Shhhh! @SP2342. You’re gonna blow @anon84763962 's cover. :spy: Everyone was supposed to think she’s a bumble bee. :smile:

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There isx some truth to what the pharmacist told you.

: Do generics have to have the same recipe, effect, side effects?
A: “The generics have to have the number of milligrams of drug that is included on the label in the pills. You can take it to the bank that that does not vary. In addition, the pill needs to get you within 10 percent above or below the blood concentrations achieved with the brand for the FDA to approve the generic, and in reality, they only usually vary by 3-4 percent in one direction or another. So yes, they are very similar in terms of the active ingredient. It is possible that one generic will get you a 3 percent lower concentration than the brand and another can get you a concentration that is 3 percent above the brand and therefore the two generics can be 6% different from each other. Most people will never notice a difference.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/22/generic-prescriptions_n_6730194.html

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The FDA website seems to contradict the Huffington post article. It’s possible that the 10% thing is an urban myth. :confused:

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In the uk all we get is generics and the manufacturer changes every time

oh ok got ya, yeah I was just curious how the pharmacist came to the conclusion there could be +/- 10% on generics if the fda states generics have to be equivalent just like branded drugs.

but I did find this article, saying the fda definition of bio equivalent is a bit broad.

From the FDA website, there are small acceptable differences from generic compared to brand name and also between two different batches of brand name drugs. Production is not a perfect process so some variation would be expected.

“FDA recently evaluated 2,070 human studies conducted between 1996 and 2007. These studies compared the absorption of brand name and generic drugs into a person’s body. These studies were submitted to FDA to support approval of generics. The average difference in absorption into the body between the generic and the brand name was 3.5 percent[2]. Some generics were absorbed slightly more, some slightly less. This amount of difference would be expected and acceptable, whether for one batch of brand name drug tested against another batch of the same brand, or for a generic tested against a brand name drug. In fact, there have been studies in which brand name drugs were compared with themselves as well as with a generic. As a rule, the difference for the generic-to-brand comparison was about the same as the brand-to-brand comparison.”

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Wow! :fearful: So a 6% difference is possible.

Yes, and that’s true even from one batch to another of the brand name drug. No production process is perfect. The acceptable variations in production are likely established through studies and with FDA oversight.

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Then I may have been incorrect in that I thought they were talking about actual drug content in milligrams but were instead talking about blood concentrations or bioavailability.

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