Newfangled doesn’t necessarily mean that much better, especially when it comes to taking medicine. Getting prescribed the latest and greatest pill could mean you’re paying more when there’s a perfectly good drug out there that can do the same job, minus the jacked-up new drug patent cost. Vanguard says:

Several recent studies have shown convincingly that older, less expensive drugs work just as well as newer, far more expensive ones. According to a recent report in the Journal of the American Medical Association, a decades-old, inexpensive diuretic does as good a job preventing fatal and non-fatal heart attacks as some newer high blood pressure medications.

Similarly, older medications for illnesses ranging from arthritis to schizophrenia have proven to be as effective as newer, higher-priced drugs.

So, whether you’re already taking a medicine or getting prescribed a new medication, ask your doctor if there are any established, but not as pricey, versions of the drug that you could be taking instead.

Seven ways to cut the cost of medicine [Vanguard] (Photo: Spidra Webster)

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