Most people are aware that you can save money buying a generic
drug rather than the original brand name. Once a drug has been on the market a
certain number of years, it's patent runs out which leaves the door open for
other pharmaceutical companies to copy it.
Sometimes the producers of the original drug will alter it
slightly so as to extend their patent, but they are not always able to do that.
Recently I've seen some television commercials where two medications that have
gone generic have been combined to make a *new* medication. You can count
on that costing more money!
In most cases, the generic drug works as well as the original.
However, this is not always the case. Be sure that you ask your doctor. No sense
paying for a drug that isn't going to do what you want it to do.
Unfortunately, sometimes you have to buy the generic, whether
you want to or not, depending on your medical insurance. Once a drug has a
generic, your insurance carrier will insist that you purchase it instead of the
original drug.
Be sure and ask for samples, if possible, before filling your prescription.
Most doctors have them. It usually doesn't take long to determine if a
medication is going to cause you side effects you cannot tolerate. If you
possibly can, wait and see.
To lower your blood pressure when paying for your medications,
remember this. Out of 10,000-15,000 chemical compounds formulated and tested
each year by the pharmaceutical companies, only ONE makes it to market. That's a
lot of expense in research and development to come up with these medications,
which we need.