Edit: sorry, the picture was lost during a site upgrade.
More evidence that a generic is the same medication as its brand equivalent. The capsule on the left is cefdinir 300mg made by DAVA Pharmaceuticals, and the capsule on the right is brand Omnicef by Abbot.
The pills are IDENTICAL, from the indigo and aqua coloring right down to the Abbot logo and the word OMNICEF printed
I was thinking today about what I (and others) call “me-too” drugs; you know, those drugs that are basically the same, and usually come out when the first one is about to go generic? Some examples:
So, what’s the point? Money. Drug companies add something (sometimes as simple as an extra carbon or hydrogen atom) to the drug, and that gives them another 19 years of patent. Sure, sometimes, studies show slightly better results (as in one more person in the 1,000 they tested got results), but with the cost of drugs these days, shouldn’t doctors be pushing lower-cost alternatives (i.e. generics)?
So many of our patients don’t have insurance. Why should they have to pay over $300 for Valtrex (valacyclovir) when generic acyclovir works just the same (though more tablets per day) and costs as little as $4?
Who wants to spend less on drugs? Me, too.
