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Va Meds, Generic Or Name Brand?

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  • HadIt.com Elder
Drug Interaction Checker at the VA made me laugh for a long time. Would that be the same as records checker at the VARO?

I am still laughing Pete. They prescribed me Zomig and it says do not take if you are taking certain BP medicines.

J

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Hello all,

Hopefully this info will also help. There really is no difference between brand and generic. Brand named drug becomes generic when patent expires. When this happens,,, other drug companies can produce the drug thus the "generic" term.

So, when you hear about pharmaceutical companies charging an "arm-n-leg" for new meds,,, that is because they hold the patent. Then after a few years,,, the patent expires,,, the drug gets a new name,,, many pharmaceutical companies reproduce the drug,,, the cost goes down.

THEN,,, a new drug is created,,, cost for med is high,,, wait a few years,,, patent expires,,, many pharm companies reproduce drug,,, cost goes down. Then... (you get the message).

I tell people to not get confused about "Brand Names" and "Generic Names." One can think of it as going to the store and buying Concord Grape Jelly for $5.00 instead of buying Kroger's Grape Jelly for $1.99. Same thing,,, just one is "Brand" and the other is "Generic."

Hope this helps.

Ohhhh, as for bottling, that is "specific for the company." Ummm, one can use the "jelly" example above to get what I mean.

Drug interactions. All pharmacies MUST have the "red warning." VA, CVS, Walmart. It is a FDA safety thing. I admit, many providers have a bad habit of "poor handwriting AND poor spelling." All those years in school did nothing to correct this issue. So, when pharmacist attempts to decipher what was written and inputs the information, if it is wrong,,, RED FLAG appears. Or, if the providers prescribes a med and is counter acts another med,,, when the pharmacist inputs the info,,, "RED FLAG."

As for where meds are made. Once more FDA. FDA is very strict on ensuring that the specific medication meets the standards on strength, effectiveness, etc. for the med.

Okay, hope all this helps.

Doc

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  • HadIt.com Elder

Doc:

That is your opinion and I respect you for putting it there but most Doctors will admit that generic is not always the same as Brand and my point earlier I would not object to generic if I know it was made in USA which at least has better standards than many foreign countries.

Just my opinion I can't prove it but my wife will jump my case when I get her a generic she actually knows from the first or 2nd dose.

Edited by Pete53
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I concur, in most cases the generic can be significantly different and I can tell immediately. I just look up the pill on the pill identifier site I listed and it will say whether it is generic or not, who the manufacturer is and country.

Records checker at the VARO...hehehehe

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