Does Generic Medications Are Less Effective?
By arviez
@arviez (183)
Philippines
May 5, 2012 9:44pm CST
I absolutely don't believe on this. Last time I go to a pharmacy to purchase my moms medications and there is this one women who is diabetic based on the medication she is asking on the pharmacist. So she said if they have this and that and the pharmacist told her that they don't have the stock for the brand she is asking for so the pharmacist gave her another two option to change for another brand with the same dosage or to buy a generic meds which is much more cheaper and yet the same efficacy. So she reacted that "No I will no buy that brand nor buy a generic one cause I will not be healed or will not feel comfortable if I drink it" and I was shocked for her reaction that generic meds for here are not effective or less effective. I would not agree on here because of that woman really knows the difference of branded medications and the branded one she is going to feel shocked also. This is a big lesson for us that the either generic or branded as long as it is a medication it can help us to feel better and help us to heal and on a certain disease that we have. Do you think that generic medications are less effective? Will you buy expensive branded one over a cheap generic one? Share your views.
1 person likes this
7 responses
@lmw814 (124)
• United States
6 May 12
I think you'd be crazy to want to pay the money just for the brand name. Medications are expensive enough as it is. I think the generic forms work just as well and cost a lot less. I don't think they could have these generic medications on the market if they weren't proven to work for people.
1 person likes this
@lynboobsy11 (11343)
• Philippines
6 May 12
Hi arvies.
Generic or branded medicines are fine it depends on the persons compatibility on how his body reacts on the meds he intakes. It depends on the reaction of the medicines to each person, there are generic brands medicines that can cure me fast but there are some that not effective to me. There are also branded ones that are not even effective generic are more fine. Not everybody has the same system function.
@juhrina029 (158)
• Philippines
7 May 12
Yeah you're right. Not all people are comfortable to drinking generic medicines. I can see the difference on that since my mom doesn't buy generic medicines because she observed as well as me, that generic med. doesn't cure illness faster than the effect of a branded one. On the contrary, still some people says that they are more comfortable in using generic medicines. So i think it really depends on the person.
@SIMPLYD (90721)
• Philippines
6 May 12
Recently i had a CP (cardio-pulomonary clearance) prior to the surgery done to me last May 3.
I was cleared in all aspect, but the cardiologist gave me a prescription for my heart , because my ECG showed okay, but i told him i easily get tired.
So we talked and he found out that i was deactivated, meaning i stopped exercising 3 months ago, so that's why.
He prescribed me a medicine good for one month, which i asked if it will be a maintenance or just for a month, and he said let's see after a month.
Then i told him if i can buy generic one, and he explained to me why i should not.
He said that if the medicine is meant to be for treatment , it should be the branded one. But if it's meant to be just a supplement , then generic will do.
He said that the packaging specially of the branded ones are meant to be for long shelf life, hence the efficacy will be there even if it's there at the pharmacy for a long time, while those generics are not like that.
In short, if it's meant to be for a treatment of a certain disease, buy the branded ones. But if it's for just a supplement, then you can buy a generic.
@esor50 (115)
•
6 May 12
generic medicines are cheaper,sometimes i go for generic medicines that can suffice the same efficacy and milligrams.but sometimes i take into consideration its side effects.there are generic medicines that are also as good as the branded medicines.but if i don't find a good substitute for the branded medicine,i buy the branded one.
@rewardsinlife (1132)
• United States
6 May 12
I do not think that generic brands of medications are any less effective, because doctors constantly interchange them so that insurance will accept it and the patient wouldn't have to pay as much on their prescription. I also have an uncle that is a pharmacist at Walgreens, and he said that all of the generic walgreens brands are the same as the expensive brand.
1 person likes this
@limechavez05 (67)
• Philippines
6 May 12
I use generic medications 80% of the time. So long as I can find a generic counterpart to the branded medicines that my doctor give me. Its very effective and a whole lot cheaper!
@shaggin (72183)
• United States
6 May 12
MOST of the generic medicines do work the same but not all of them. I had to take zoloft and my insurance stopped paying for the name brand so they gave me this generic stuff called sertraline. It was like taking 10% of the regular zoloft is how it made me feel. The stuff was junk and I had to take a different anti-depressant because the sertraline wasent helping me at all.
