litvishechosid – the process works like this:
1. A drug company does research and testing to develop a new drug, which costs $$$.
2. They patent it and sell it at a big profit to make back their investment and get lots of cash because:
3. After the patent – which usually isn’t decades long – runs out other companies can make the same drug, called a generic (general), but since they didn’t pay the costs of developing it they can charge a lot less. They compete with the “brand name” original drug, and for most people the benefits are the same at a much lower price.
4. Insurance companies want to pay out as little as possible, and other stakeholders in health care also want to keep costs down, so they require that the pharmacist will automatically use the cheaper generic unless the doctor says otherwise.
5. But as CTL says, the non-active ingredients in the generic may be different than in the brand name, which may cause some people problems, so the doctor can specify “brand name only.” So if you’re using a generic drug for whatever and you have symptoms, keep track of them and tell your doctor immediately.
6. The same works for over-the-counter drugs. Generic ibuprofen and Advil have the same active ingredient, but different stuff making up the pill itself.
7. Keep your doctor informed and follow his/her advice.
8. Some people think that the big drug companies are using the threat from generics to keep their prices artifically high, costing us lots of $$$ extra. If you want illustrations of this, google “Shkreli” and “Epipen,” about a drug company that got itself busted for increasing the price of a life-saving emergency drug through the roof.