Generic and Brand Name Drugs: Understanding the Basics

1 Generic and Brand name Drugs: Understanding the BasicsWe ve been there. We can has just been diagnosed with bipolar dis-order. After talking to his doctor, he decides to see a therapist and go on medication. Joe sdoctor gives him two weeks worth of samples fora Brand name drug called SteadyMood and askshim to come back to see him in two weeks. Whenhe returns, Joe s feeling a little better and agreesto keep taking SteadyMood for another month. When he gets to the pharmacy, Joe learns that his insurance plan s co-pay for a month s supply of SteadyMood is $40. This seems a little expensive to him,so he asks the pharmacist about it. His pharmacist tells him that he s fortunateto have insurance coverage; without it, the Brand name would cost $100. Joeasks if there s another drug he could take that costs less. The pharmacist tellshim that his medication comes in a Generic form. His insurance co-pay would be $10 for a month s supply of the Generic , but his doctor would have to approve it.

2 The pharmacist calls Joe s doctor and gets approval to fill his prescription withthe Generic . The next morning, Joe opens the bottle and sees 30 round, whitepills. He s confused and believes there must be some kind of mistake since theSteadyMood samples his doctor gave him were pink ovals. Joe calls his phar-macist who tells him that the round, white pills are the Generic form forSteadyMood and they should work just fine. After taking the Generic for a month, Joe s feeling much better. He returns tothe drugstore with another prescription from his doctor, and this time, itallows for Generic substitution. Joe fills his prescription and leaves. The nextmorning, he opens the bottle to find a completely different-looking medi-cine now, the pills are yellow and square. Joe s frustrated and even moreconfused. Is this a different drug altogether? Is it another type of Generic drug ?Should he simply stay with the Brand name version that his doctor originallygave him?

3 Many of us have found ourselves in situations like Joe s and canunderstand his prescription medicines are avail-able to treat depression and bipolar disorder. The pharmacist might ask ifyou want your prescription filled withthe Brand name medicine or the genericmedicine. Each option has pros andcons to con sider. This brochure will give you the information you need tohelp you decide what s right for you inyour treatment and recovery plan. You lllearn that the decision to choose abrand name or a Generic is one thatinvolves you and your health care brandnamedrug is amedicinethat s dis-covered,developedand mar-keted by a pharmaceutical company. Oncea new drug is discovered, the companyfiles for a patent to protect against othercompanies making copies and selling thedrug. At this point the drug has twonames: a Generic name that s the drug scommon scientific name and a brandname to make it stand out in the market-place. This is true of prescription drugs aswell as over-the-counter drugs.

4 An exam-ple is the pain reliever Tylenol . The brandname is Tylenol and the Generic name is drugs have the same active ingredients as Brand name drugs alreadyapproved by the Food and DrugAdministration (FDA). Generics onlybecome available after the patent expireson a Brand name drug . Patent periodsmay last up to 20 years on some same company that makes the Brand name drug may also produce the Generic version. Or, a different company might produce are Brand name and Generic drugs?Making Smart Choices about Medications3 The decision to choose a Brand name or a Generic is one that involves you and your health care team. The SimilaritiesThe DifferencesAccording to the FDA, to substitute ageneric for a Brand name drug : It must contain the same active ingredients (the chemical substancethat makes the drug work). It must have the same dosage strength(the amount of active ingredients, forexample 20 mg or 40 mg). It must be the same dosage form (thatis, it needs to be available in the sameform as the original for example, as a liquid, pill, etc.)

5 It must have the same route of admin -istration (the way the medication isintroduced into the body). It must deliver similar amounts of the drug to the bloodstream (that is, it needs to deliver a comparableamount of the drug into the blood-stream within a similar time period as the Brand name drug ).Here s how generics and Brand namedrugs differ: They look different. (Federal lawrequires this.) They could have different sizes,shapes, colors or markings. They have different names. They might have different inactiveingredients. Drugs are made up of both activeand inactive ingredients. Some peo-ple may be sensitive to inactive ingre-dients. For example, some peoplehave reactions to certain dyes used insome drugs. The Generic costs less than the brandname drug . The cash price and insurance co-payis usually lower. Generics can costbetween 20 and 80 percent less, butkeep in mind that cost is only onefactor when considering the rightmedication for your condition.

6 Generics vary by manufacturer, whichmeans you could receive different ver-sions based on where you purchaseyour medications and what type ofgeneric they dispense. Different pharmacies carry differentgenerics. Even the same pharmacy may changegeneric s important to remember that there arebrand name and Generic versions of medi-cines not only for mood disorders but forother conditions as well high bloodpressure, diabetes, etc. Today, about 50percent of all prescriptions are filled withgeneric drugs. The FDA has establishedstandards for Generic drugs that mightseem complicated but are really quite s the difference between Brand name and Generic drugs?4 For most consumers, their insurance plan determineswhat they pay for medication. Both private and gov-ernment insurance companies promote using genericdrugs when possible. They might even requiresubsti-tuting a Generic for a Brand name drug . As in Joe s story, the co-pay for the genericmight be $10. But the co-pay for the same dosage and amount of the Brand namemight be $40.

7 Some insurance plans might require you to pay the entire cost ofthe Brand name drug if you don t accept the available PlansWhy do Brand name drugs cost more than generics?It takes several years, costly scientificdevelopment and many clinical studies to get a drug approved. Manufacturers of new Brand name drugs (also called pioneer drugs ) usually take on theresearch and development costs for newmedications. These research and develop-ment costs, along with marketing costs,account for most of the higher prices wepay for most Brand name contrast, Generic drugs have lessresearch and development costs since theoriginal manufacturer has already donemany studies to make sure the drug issafe. These savings are passed on to , while the Brand name form isstill protected by its patent, no genericscan be produced. And, if a Brand namedrug has only just recently lost its patent,there may only be one Generic form avail-able. Usually, when there s only onegeneric option available, it will be sureto check yourme dicationla belsandconfirmthe nameanddos e of yourpre scr a bra ndname dr ug should all havethesa mename, no mat ter whatcompanypr oducedit.

8 If yo ur originalprescriptionwaswr itt enfor thebra nd name , andthedoctoral lowedge nericsubstitution,thebottlelabe l should in dic ate t thedr ug is identical if it lo oks differ ur pha rmaci st ca n ver ify thi s fo ryo u, and yourdoc tor ca n als o confi rm thiswhenyo u bri ng yourmedicati on bo tt le toyo ur appo you hav e a genericpr esc rip ti on, to reduce conf usion, askyo ur pha rmacist to ref ill your Generic pre -sc ripti on wi th thesa me dru g, fr om thesa me ma nufacturer, ea ch ti sgenericandbrandnameversionslookdifferen t,howcanIbesureI mgettingtherightmedicationatthepharmacy? Not all medicationshavea ge nericfor m e do ctorsmightnotbe awareof re centlyap pr ove d gen or s alsodifferinthei r beliefsto wards,andexpe riences with,differ-ent medications. Ourmedicalhis tor ies,insu ranceandpe rs onalpreferences ma yal so influenceourdoc tor s decisio n. It simport ant that we consultourdoctorsbefore dec iding if ageneric is ri ght fo r us.

9 If you re int er est ed intry ing a Generic dr ug,fir st findout if it s ava il-abl e. Ask you r do cto so, you r pha rmac istwi ll havea li st of Generic dr ugs an d canusuall y tell yo u howmuchtheywi ll co ston yourinsuranc e pla tmydoctorautomaticallyprescribegenericdr ugs?If youandyourphysiciandetermi ne thateith er a ge nericor brandnamedr ug isbe st for you,make sureyourpharma yourdoctorwritesyourpre -scri pt io n spe cifically for the Generic , that swhat the pharmacistwill lier,theremightbe seve ra ldi ff erentgeneric dr ug ma nuf ac tur er you require thebr andna me drug ,ask yourdoc tor to indicate tha t on you rprescri pti on. Diff erentsta tes ha ve di ffer -ent lawsandregulati onson gen eri csubsti tut the brandname medicineor the genericversion the bestoption? Theanswer is that itdepends. Thereare several differ-ent things thatyou and your doctor can consider: How difficult it is to control your medical condition How sensitive you are to changes in medication treatment How difficult it is to pay for your prescriptions, including whether your insurance covers prescriptionsMaking an informed choiceEach insurance plan has a formulary, a list of drugs that it approves and prefersfor certain medical conditions.

10 (Public insurances, like Medicaid and MedicarePart D, also have formularies.) A formulary lists which drugs the plan covers andat what level they re covered. Ideally, insurance companies base this list on thebest medical information available at the time. They negotiate the prices of drugson their formularies with drug manufacturers. And this often means dollar savingsfor the consumer. When you enroll in an insurance plan, you should receive its formu lary. A book letand/or a website usually containthis information. If you re consider-ing changing insurance plans, com-pare the cost of your medicationson the Formularies7It s important that we consult our doctors beforedeciding if a Generic is right for Have your doctor indicate on the pre-scription that it is for the Brand namedrug only. Tell the pharmacist you want thebrand name version if your prescrip-tion doesn t specify which. Check to make sure the medicine youget is the Brand name drug . To help cover the cost: Ask your doctor for samples of anynew drugs that you are your doctor about any couponsor voucher if you qualify for financial assistance by checking out programs like these:Partnership for PrescriptionAssistance (PPA)(888) 477-2669 Rx Access(800) 444-4106 Know the drug s Brand name as wellas its Generic name .