You may have been asked when you have gone to the pharmacy to fill a prescription if you would like to try the generic version of the drug. Some people are unsure about what it is that generic drugs are exactly. If you take medications regularly, then you should know about these types of drugs in order to decide whether or not to use them.
New medications and drugs are being developed by pharmaceutical companies all the time. When a company has created a new medication, they must patent it and have it approved by different bodies to protect the health and safety of citizens. The patent the drug company gets for the new medication prevents other companies from making copy medications and it protects the large investment that these companies make in creating new medications.
When the patent on the medication is nearing expiration, other pharmaceutical manufacturers can apply to the Food and Drug Administration for permission to manufacture generic versions of the medication. These are chemically the same and include all of the same active ingredients and strengths as the brand name drug. However, since the companies have not had to pay for expensive research and development on the medication, they can be sold more cheaply.
There are a few reasons the costs are lower on generic medications. The first is that developing medications is expensive and the company has to recoup the costs they incurred in creating the medicine. Next there are usually high marketing and advertising costs that are associated with a new medication. Advertising is done to the public, as well as to health professionals such as doctors and pharmacists. There are medical representatives who are sent to visit them and leave samples and merchandising materials.
Some people worry that because they are buying a cheaper version of the drug that it is inferior in some way. This is a major misconception about generics. A company cannot create a generic version of a drug without first having approval from the government and to do this the strength, actives, composition and safety of the medication is stringently tested.
There are a couple of other misconceptions people have about generic drugs. One of these is that they are not as strong or that they take a longer time to be absorbed and work in your body: this is untrue, they work in exactly the same way as the brand name does. Other people have the idea that the cheaper version is manufactured in sub-standard facilities to the brand version and this is also completely untrue.
Although the generic and the brand medications are chemically the same, they may look different. The laws relating to generics do not allow the drugs to look identical to each other. For this reason you might find they are different colors or shapes than the original medication.
Generic drugs are not available for every medication, but they are available for a number of them. If you take a medication regularly and you would like to try the generic drugs, tell your pharmacist next time you go to fill the prescription. If you are still worried about using generic drugs, you can talk to your doctor more about the idea.
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