What Are Generics Good For?

By Author: Steven Johnson
Total Articles: 490
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How many times you came across generic medications especially when buying online and wondered what the whole deal is and why they are so cheap? You can see many generic variations of a branded drug sold at prices that are fraction of the original price-tag of the renowned medication. Does this mean that generic drugs are cheap low-quality copies or interpretations of the original formulation or there's much more to that? Here's a short investigation of the matter as we will try to look into the pros and cons of generic drugs and find out if they are a viable alternative to branded drug variations.

First of all, let's define the concept of generic drug formulation. Generics (generic drugs) are chemical formulations identical to branded drugs, having the same composition, mechanism of action, effects and precautions, which are usually produced in countries with cheap labor and sold in countries where the license on the branded drug is not in force. Generic drugs are very cheap because they have low production costs and they don't require development and marketing costs. The usual scheme of generic drug appearance is the ...
... following:

- a big pharmaceutical company invests a lot of money in research and development of a new drug;
- if they are successful, they invest more money into clinical trials and marketing promotion;
- in order to assure their return on investment, the company receives exclusive rights to sell the product under a single brand name for a specified period of time in specified areas;
- generic drug manufacturers receive the exact formulation of the new drug and by employing low cost labor and accessible raw materials with no need to research and develop anything new, start producing the exact chemical copy of the branded drug;
- generic drugs are sold only in countries where the license of the branded drug is not in force.

The Internet has made it a bit abstract in terms of sale areas, as you can order whatever you want for personal use, generic drugs as well. And it's quite simple to order and use generic Viagra for example as long as you use it yourself.

As we can see, generic drugs are virtually the same thing as branded drugs that are much cheaper to get. However, many people still use brand variations believing that they have higher quality and can be better controlled by physicians if needed. And they are partially right. Big pharmaceutical companies have more resources for quality control and doctors are usually more aware of the effects of branded variations. If you consult your physician and say that you've been using generic Viagra for ED you can easily hear the following answer: Oh, generics, what have you expected from a drug produced in Vietnam? And while a large part of both generic and branded drugs are manufactured either in the Southeast Asia or from chemicals delivered from the area, there's still a prejudice against drugs made outside of developed countries.

In the end, it's up to you to decide what drug to buy. If you only worry about the price and don't want to overpay for your drugs then generics are just what you need. If you want to get quality and support from a respected company make sure you have the money to pay more for branded variations.