A brief account on generic prescription drugs Prescription drugs refer to the medication that is prescribed by the doctor and is made available at the pharmacists only after you produce an appropriate authentication from the doctor to allow buying these drugs. By adopting this practice the government aims at reducing the abuse or unsupervised use of these drugs. They ensure that the doctors are able to monitor the patients’ progress by the use of these drugs specified by them. These prescription drugs are characterized into two types namely, brand name drugs and generic drugs. Amongst these the brand name drugs as the name suggests is a drug possessing a patent and poses a brand name. On the contrary, a generic drug is the same as the brand name drug but without a patent or a brand name. Prescription generic medications posses the same active ingredients like that in the branded drugs and they are bioequivalent of their patented counterparts. Normally, drug companies manufacture generic drugs in the event of expiry of the patent on the branded medications. They are also used in regions where there are no patent been registered. Since the pharmaceutical or the drug manufacturing companies spend an enormous amount of money on gaining the patent the resulting cost of the brand names is much higher as compared to the generic drugs. This is an exact reason why health insurance companies refuse to cover brand name drugs if their generic versions are available in the market. Generic drugs tend to look a little different than their branded counterparts but since they have the same composition and no different healing effects they are a better option if you plan on saving a lot of money invested on the branded drugs. When the patent for the brand expires competitors are able to sell generic prescription drugs with huge savings to the customers. This also proves to be profitable for the generic drug manufacturers since unlike the branded drug manufactures they do not pay for the research and development costs of the drug. All generic drugs share the same quality and effect of that of their branded counterparts. However, not all branded drugs have their respective generic versions. Only about half of the existing brand name drugs have their respective generic drugs. Unfortunately, it takes about 20 years for the patent on the brand name drugs to expire so until that time generic drugs are not available in mass quantities to the customers. Moreover, drug companies flock medical magazines with advertisements for their branded products to encourage doctors to prescribe the brand-name, rather than their generic equivalents on their prescription pads. On the other hand, there might be legitimate reasons for prescribing branded drugs instead of generic drugs. On the whole, it is both safe and profitable to use generic prescription drugs unless you have allergies towards certain inactive ingredients of the medication.
Why are Generic Drugs Preferred by All? Health is one crucial thing that no one can experiment with. When it comes to healthcare everyone wants to ensure that they are in good hands. They rely on the best and the most
reputed doctors and the medicines that are prescribed through them. In some countries, healthcare is provided absolutely free by the government while in some others the expense related to medical care is sky-rocketing high. Although quality is important when it comes to healthcare it is rather impractical for men and women from the working population of the society to spend all their hard earned money on their expensive medications rather than school and college fees of their children. This is where the alternative kind of drugs known as generic drugs comes to rescue of the average middle class earner. Unlike the branded drugs generic drugs impose a lesser pressure on your wallet and is highly cost efficient. Although of the same caliber as that of the branded drugs the generic counterparts of these drugs cost several times lesser than their branded versions. Nothing about the drugs are different other than the cost. The active ingredients in the drug are the same and give the exact same health benefit like the branded drugs. It is a general assumption that when a commodity is priced less the quality has been compromised but this does not hold true for generic drugs. In fact you must see why the cost is high in case of branded drugs and that would clear you of all your apprehensions. The cost of the branded drug is substantially high because its price includes a lot of aspects like cost incurred on research and development of the drugs, cost of production and manufacture, cost of advertising and marketing and costs of patenting. All these costs are a major consideration when the manufacturer comes to the stage of finalizing the drug’s retail price. On the contrary, generic drugs, although a bioequivalent to its branded counterpart, is generally priced way too lower than the branded ones because they let out in the market only after the patent on the branded versions expires. This duration normally lasts anywhere upto 17 years. Thus generic drugs tend to be cheaper since they are devoid of all those extra costs associated with the production of the original branded drugs. However, if you wonder why branded drugs are still in the market even when its generic versions are also made available there are two things that would answer your query. One is not all branded drugs have generic versions and second is that the generic versions, however similar in their active constituents, quality, strength, purity, stability and health benefits to the branded ones, do have some dissimilarities with regards to inactive and inert ingredients used as fillers, colors and flavors. They are packaged differently as well. As far as its effect on the health is concerned they are as safe and effective as the branded ones.
Generic Herpes Treatment Drug Genital Herpes is the sexually transmitted disease (STD) that is caused due to two types of the Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) – HSV1 and HSV2. The symptoms are painful, burning and tingling sensations in or around the genital area and the appearance of lesions or blisters. The STD is commonly prevailing amongst human population and there is growing instance of the disease due to the liberal social values that allows multiple sexual relationships. However, it can also be
caused through external mediums like an infected public toilet seat. In most cases, this viral disease can reoccur over time especially in patients with poor immune system. It is one of the frequent causes of psychological distress in patients. Valacyclovir is an antiviral drug that has shown effective results against this dreadful genital disease. Valacyclovir is marketed under the trade name valtrex. It not only treats viral genital diseases but also takes care of shingles, cold sores and chicken pox. Major pharmaceutical manufacturers used to sell these prescription drugs for some time now but recently the generic versions are released thus giving the patients a cost-effective access to these significant antiviral drugs. The generic forms of drugs are generally ones that are chemically similar with the only distinction of the absence of a brand name. Most of the cost of the prescription drugs comprises of the cost incurred on the production, the research and development and the patenting done on the drugs. Thus they are priced at a rate that is substantially higher than that of the generic drugs. People who are not properly informed about the concept of generic drugs are generally skeptical on the purchase of these cheaper versions of the generic drugs on account of the possible risks of buying something cheaper. However, they need not worry since using generic drugs have no unnecessary or unseen repercussions that one needs to be scared about. Generic valtrex, for instance, has nothing that is different from its prescribed version except for maybe the appearance and the loss of the brand name and some difference in the non-active ingredients that is not a great deal. Generic valtrex shows the same curing effects on herpes zoster (shingles) and genital herpes. It comes in a tablet form with 500mg and 1000mg concentrations. Its use is medically approved and is known to treat the genital sores and prevent their recurrence. When used in accordance with safe sex practices, the transmittance of this horrible disease is prevented efficiently. They also do carry similar side effects as seen in the prescribed versions of the same drug. These may include constipation, abdominal pain, and appearance of rash, weakness, giddiness, edema, vertigo, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.