brand vs. generic

[Tigerlily]

just found out that our new health plan (which totally sucks) doesn't actually include prescriptions at least not at present. here's the deal. we have a 2300 deductible and aren't close to meeting it this year. our pharmacy and medical are combined in the deductible. i need to fill prescriptions now. i found this website online and they do have lexapro in brand and generic form but i am leary of generic antidepressants. anyone have any experience or advice?

next year our deductible goes up to 2400! what a bunch of fuckers. we're paying around 600 a month (in health crap) just to take it up the ass. :steam:

 

[tinkerbell]

Not a doctor but alomst always the generic product containts exactly the same active ingreidenit that makes it work. The brand is useless.

When drugs are patented they are give 25 years of cover, but it takes about 10 years to get them tested properly for human consumtpion, thefore there is only 15 years proper return for the investment, so in that time the pharma company tries to hook conumsers into buying the brand when it's the active ingreidnet that is the imporant thing. Often they try and increase the "unequeness by slightly alterning the compositon.

Worth checking out with a pharmasist if there is a big difference between the generic and branded product, but usually it's zero or something lame like smaller capsules or prettier bottle.

Frotunately I'm in the UK so I don't have these issues unless I'm buying over the counter stuff... and I enver buy branded pain releif, I go for the 19p packs of paracetamol, they work, they are pill size I swallow them, it's really not worth £3.20 more to have the same stuff packaged differently but are exactly the same....

Sorry about your insurance

 

[Tigerlily]

ahh the uk. my husband is from england and hates the health care here. he hates people's ignorance about "socialized" medicine even more so maybe you can shed some light on it for us.

if you needed your yearly checkup, how long would it take you to get the appointment, how much would the appointment cost and approximately how much are your prescription refills?

 

[tinkerbell]

ahh the uk. my husband is from england and hates the health care here. he hates people's ignorance about "socialized" medicine even more so maybe you can shed some light on it for us.

if you needed your yearly checkup, how long would it take you to get the appointment, how much would the appointment cost and approximately how much are your prescription refills?

ah you have a sadistic streak... LOL

I live just outside Lonon (and yea that makes a huge difference).... It would take 5-8 days to get an appointment although that in part would be because I work in town so not always close enough to drop in durign the day or it would be sooner. Typically one wouldn't get a yearly check up, one would only go when one was ill. If I was properly ill, I'd get seen either same day or the next day. I think in rare cases I can get the the doctor to make a house call, although I don't know that for sure, not had a house call since I live in Scotland.

London is different, it's more pile them high ship them out - longer wait for elective appointments.

All doctor appointments are free unless it was a check up for work, or just a check up for the hell of it. I don't think people go just for a medical check without it being about insurance... they only turn up when feelign poorly. Then it's free. No idea how much a paid for check up would be... never had one ever

Prescriptions are about £7.50 for a months worth of pills, irespective of the pill or treatment. If you have two treatments you would pay £15.

OK now you can be sick. At no point would I see a consultant unless there was a medical reason and my GP would need to send me. So I'd see a nurse for Cervical exams, and hzave never seen a Gyny specalist ever.

Dentists are expensive, I've got a root canal work going on which will cost me c£300 private medical. On the NHS it would probably be £150... bu the standard of the work would sulk.

In terms of your current prescription, compare the ingreidients to see what the Brand has changed - bet it's buggar all

L

 

[Feops]

I've worked in a pharmacy for a time...

In the US and Canada, brand and generic must have the same active components. The differences would be in dyes, binders, etc. Some people insisted that they needed the brand name products, but I suspect the need was a placebo effect in taking something less "real".

 

[avolkiteshvara]

I've worked in a pharmacy for a time...

In the US and Canada, brand and generic must have the same active components. The differences would be in dyes, binders, etc. Some people insisted that they needed the brand name products, but I suspect the need was a placebo effect in taking something less "real".

Thats what I've heard as well. I notice small differences between generic motrin and brand name. I tolerate brand name a bit better. Same with antihistamines.

Its the fillers.


Limey should take up a side job as a comic.

 

[Fecal McAngry]

just found out that our new health plan (which totally sucks) doesn't actually include prescriptions at least not at present. here's the deal. we have a 2300 deductible and aren't close to meeting it this year. our pharmacy and medical are combined in the deductible. i need to fill prescriptions now. i found this website online and they do have lexapro in brand and generic form but i am leary of generic antidepressants. anyone have any experience or advice?

There are significant differences between some brand name drugs and some generic equivalents, but Lexapro is not likely to be one of them. Usually the problem generics are time-release formulations, such as Update...oxycontin brand vs. generic - HealthBoards Message Boards .

 

[EffEmDoubleyou]

As long as this topic has been brought up, I'm going to be buying private health insurance soon. I'm trying to decide between a plan that covers only generic drugs vs. one that also covers name brand drugs (pricier.) My question is, does anyone know of any commonly prescribed expensive drugs that have no generic equivalent? I don't want to pay more for a plan I won't use.

Thanks in advance if anyone can shed some light

 

[tinkerbell]

As long as this topic has been brought up, I'm going to be buying private health insurance soon. I'm trying to decide between a plan that covers only generic drugs vs. one that also covers name brand drugs (pricier.) My question is, does anyone know of any commonly prescribed expensive drugs that have no generic equivalent? I don't want to pay more for a plan I won't use.

Thanks in advance if anyone can shed some light

A drug only becomes generic once's it's patent time is up.... hence there are LOTS of non generic drugs. The exception to this is when the pharma company licence people to use the chemicals compositonunder a different brand (I'd think this happens more when it's nearing the end of the patent).

So anything very new is likely to be only available as a branded product.... the upside of generic is that it's been tested and been in use for c.10 years before you consume it... the downside is you might need something more new for your ailments.

As for Insurance, can't help you there

Jen, Fecal McAngry is right check it with a pharmacist before buying unbranded. better to be compeltely comfortbale with the product, or your mind wiht play games on you

 

[PuddleRiver]

As long as this topic has been brought up, I'm going to be buying private health insurance soon. I'm trying to decide between a plan that covers only generic drugs vs. one that also covers name brand drugs (pricier.) My question is, does anyone know of any commonly prescribed expensive drugs that have no generic equivalent? I don't want to pay more for a plan I won't use.

Thanks in advance if anyone can shed some light

Crestor (cholestorol) and Rhinochort (allergy) are 2 that I know about that have no generic equivalent, and they are expensive.

 

[Fecal McAngry]

As long as this topic has been brought up, I'm going to be buying private health insurance soon. I'm trying to decide between a plan that covers only generic drugs vs. one that also covers name brand drugs (pricier.) My question is, does anyone know of any commonly prescribed expensive drugs that have no generic equivalent? I don't want to pay more for a plan I won't use.

Thanks in advance if anyone can shed some light

Sure--for example, Hepatitis C Treatment—PEGASYS .

Generic drugs are, I believe, only available for drugs whose patent protection (legal monopoly) has expired
Generic drug - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia .

"In the US, drug patents give twenty years of protection, but they are applied for before clinical trials begin, so the effective life of a drug patent tends to be between seven and twelve years."

I assume they mean after the drug has hit the market.

For example, Prozac hit the US market in 1987 or 1988, and the patent expired in 2001. So for 13 years, the only form of fluoxetine hydrocloride you could legally obtain in the US was Prozac.

So essentially, if you opt for the generic-only insurance coverage, you will be covered for most drugs from the late 90s...

 

[Feops]

Its the fillers.

Quite possibly generics would use fillers that are cheaper or less kind to sensitive individuals. They could also use less active ingredient provided it was within tolerance. Having spoke to many of the users, I still think most of the complaints between the two are in their heads, but I could see exceptions coming up for people sensitive to dosage (ie. I have a prescription for 80ug of medication, I took brand x with an average of 82ug of medication, I swapped to generic y with an average of 79ug of medication, the 3-4% drop in active component is enough to throw me off so I stick with brand x).

Generally though I would always recommend trying generics before brand.