Tomorrow, CNBC will be airing a story on the program Business Nation about the swarms of drug reps who buzz around your doctor’s office trying to convince her to give you Lipitor or Requip or whatever.
Understanding that your doctor is under tremendous pressure to prescribe newer, costlier drugs will help you make an informed decision about what drugs are “right for you,” as the TV ads say. It might actually be the newest, costliest drug, but if you talk with your doctor about other, cheaper options, you might find that there’s another drug that will work just as well. Or not. In any case, it’s best to know your options and be able to ask informed questions about your health.
You can learn about some cheaper, often equally effective older drugs by visiting Consumer Reports’ Best Buy Drugs website.
Remember, drug companies don’t advertise drugs because they’re the best ones they have. They advertise them because they’re still holding the patent. CNBC’s program will air Nov. 7th at 9pm and 12am E.
[CNBC]
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@chouchou: For certain drugs, there can be a perceptible difference between the generic and the name-brand drug. Drugs that regulate things like Thyroid levels, gall bladder function and other endocrine systems are very common. Some women report problems with certain kinds of generic birth control as well.
One reason may be that while the active ingredients in a generic are the same, other ingredients may vary. Subtle variations in the coating, coloring or other “inert” ingredients can affect the way that certain drugs affect certain people.
For those of you who really believe generics are the same, visit the AMA (American Medical Assoc) website and read about how generics don’t have to have the same level of active ingredient as the branded drug. Scary stuff!
Do you know who made your generic?
When you re-filled, was it from the same generic company?
Is your LIFE worth so little that you would rather spend a few bucks on your blood pressure meds, but hey, I need a $5 coffee please…
I guess no one read this article from the AP which just came out.
Every industry has sales reps. The vast majority of all sales reps sell the features and benefits of what they are selling–in the case of drugs, if they weren’t effective or safer than the older generics,
do you really believe your doctor would prescribe it to you? NO!
All for all of you who have said bad things about doctors, pharmaceutical reps and companies (and who also have taken the free samples when at the doctors office), throw away your meds and never take another drug because you are obviously so much smarter than everyone else….moron!
Foreign drugmakers escape FDA scrutiny
updated 12:03 p.m. CT, Thurs., Nov. 1, 2007
WASHINGTON – Two-thirds of the foreign drug manufacturers subject to inspection by the Food and Drug Administration may never have been visited by agency inspectors, a government watchdog reported to Congress Thursday.
The FDA this year listed 3,249 foreign pharmaceutical manufacturers subject to its inspection – yet the agency cannot determine whether it has ever inspected 2,133 of them, according to a Government Accountability Office report released during a House subcommittee hearing.
@consumer_999:
No profit equals no new drugs. It only cost about a billion to develop a new drug–even if it never gets to market. Those dumb companies shouldn’t be allowed to get their money back.
The workers should just get welfare and get whipped to make us another drug. Everything should just be free.
But I suppose you work for an organization that runs off nuts and berries and everyone works for free and lives in a cardboard box and nothing is produced but good deeds. Please join reality soon where profit is good for everyone.
@axiomatic: His motivation is that doctors are paid a handsome bonus for prescribing the right mix of generic and brand name drugs, usually around 50% to 75% generic to branded. So yes, he is motivated by money because the generic companies have figured out the system–why else would he give you an older generic and not the newest treatment? Besides, your generic might be $5 a month vs $15 to $50 for the branded. Is your life worth so little?