Cheap Drugs Not Always A Good Deal

Worried sick about the high cost of medicines? Looking for cheaper substitutes that will help you save money? In these hard and trying times, everyone’s looking for a better deal and generic drugs - which are a lot cheaper than branded or “innovator” drugs - appear to be the ...Worried sick about the high cost of medicines? Looking for cheaper substitutes that will help you save money? In these hard and trying times, everyone’s looking for a better deal and generic drugs - which are a lot cheaper than branded or “innovator” drugs - appear to be the best choice.

But before you rush to the nearest pharmacy or “bargain” drugstore to change your expensive medicines, think long and hard. Those cheap substitutes may not work as well as the original medication. Worse, they may be fake drugs that could be hazardous to your health.

Generic drugs are copies of brand name drugs that are available in both over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription form. Since they are about one-third the price of brand name medications, they offer consumers significant savings. In the United States alone, the Congressional Budget Office reported that generic drugs save consumers an estimated $8 to $10 billion a year at retail pharmacies.

Generic drugs are cheaper since the companies that manufacture them don’t spend as much as the innovator companies in expensive clinical trials as well as research, developing, marketing and promoting the same drug.

The Boston-based Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development revealed that the cost to develop a new drug averages $897 million. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) added that its member companies invested about $32 billion in 2002 in discovering and developing new medicines.

While generic drug manufacturers don’t spend a bundle in research and development costs, they are required by the US Food and Drug Administration to meet the same standards as innovator companies with regards to safety and efficacy of their products.

Among others, they must have the same active ingredients, the same labeled strength and the same dosage form (e.g. tablets or liquids) as the brand name product. They must prove that they are bioequivalent to the brand name drug, meaning the generic versions must deliver the same amount of active ingredients into a patient’s bloodstream in the same amount of time as the brand name drug. Generic firms must also comply with federal regulations for good manufacturing processes and drug purity.

Unfortunately, this has not been the case in many countries which have become the dumping ground of many dubious, fake and substandard drugs. The number of patients who have suffered because of this is unknown since there are no available records but judging from the unlicensed pharmacies that have mushroomed everywhere, there is every reason to doubt the quality of the cheap drugs that are sold there.
One big market for fake drugs is obesity since overweight people are often desperate to lose weight. To avoid fake drugs, buy only from reputable dealers or manufacturers. One popular product that stands out is Phenocal – a safe and natural weight loss supplement that will boost your metabolism, suppress your appetite, increase energy levels, and help you lose unwanted pounds. For details, visit http://tinyurl.com/8jkw6ma