Posted on 9th Mar 2010 @ 9:24 AM

Generic and Branded medicine difference

Whenever you are confused about which medicine among the generic and branded medicine is correct to use, you must first consult your doctor as he is the one who can give you the best suggestion. The doctor can very well answer all your queries about the branded and the generic medications.

The most frequent question one may have is that what is the difference between generic and branded medicine. Actually, there is no noteworthy difference between both of them. Both of the medications have same and identical active ingredients and they mostly work alike.

There are some minor differences between brand name and generic prescription medicines.  

Brand name
The difference here is that a particular pharmaceutical company that holds exclusive rights for the medicine is preventing it from being researched and vended by other companies. In due course, the medicine enters into the public sphere and can be imitated by other medicine makers. They cannot use the same trade name as the original but vend it as the generic version.

Cost
The most indispensable difference between a generic drug and branded drug is cost. A branded medicine may cost up to thrice as much as that of its generic version. This in most cases is simply because the generic medicine does not have to go through the years of pricey research done by the inventive manufacturer, nor is marketing needed to initiate the product.

Ingredients
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) obliges generic drugs to include the similar active ingredients as that in the original branded medicine. However, minor differences may possibly be there based on the imitator’s selection of inactive fillers or additives. For instance, the way a medicine is released in the market or the shape of the pills may be different.

Purchase
If a doctor writes a prescription for a branded drug, it is likely to be replaced with the generic version except if the prescription indicates "no substitution." The pharmacist generally will suggest the generic substitute. The patient can also ask if a generic medicine of same drug exists. Not every branded medication necessarily has a generic version.

Research
Branded medicines have been researched for side effects, wellbeing, and effectiveness. Since generic medicines are contrived using the similar basic formula, they do not go through the same extensive studies but they rely on the studies already made thus making them cheaper then branded medication.