February 23, 2012

Generic Drug Myth Busted – It Is Not Harmful For Your Health

Since companies manufacturing medicines invest so much money into R&D, it is not surprising that they have a negative opinion about generic drugs. The name of generic drugs invariably indicates chemical composition and characteristics of the drug. On the other hand, the name of a branded drug depends on how the company wants to attract attention of the customer.

In such a scenario, it is natural for numerous misconceptions and myths to surround generic drugs. For starters, the biggest misconception is that generic drugs are less efficient. That is definitely not the case. It is not possible for any organization to sell generate drugs without approval from the FDA. Do you think FDA will approve any drug for sale to the public when it is proved harmful?

FDA is very strict insofar as approval for medicines is concerned. If the drug is not harmful but not beneficial either, the same is normally withheld.

The only thing that you should bother about is whether there is sufficient regulatory approval for the drug. If yes, then it does not matter whether the drug happens to be branded or generic.

Can you buy generic drugs without any difficulty? Definitely. These same chemist who stores branded drugs will store generic versions made by many companies. Choose drugs made by any maker – all versions are going to have the same beneficial effect.

You may find it difficult to get generic versions of recently released drugs because the patents issued by the government will govern the meds. You are going to end up disappointed if you insist on enjoying access to generic versions of branded drugs immediately. However, this cannot be cited as a criticism of generic drugs.

Rather, it is just a characteristic of branded drugs. Generic drugs will always be cheaper because different manufacturers make numerous versions of the same drug.