By ANNETTE WELLS
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Their names are quite different, their costs vary and their
appearances are worlds apart.
But when it comes down to potency, dosage, intended use,
performance and safety, generic drugs are no different than their
name-brand counter-parts.
For those reasons, and because of the recession, some Southern
Nevada health care providers are suggesting that patients consider
generic drugs to cut down on health care costs.
"Generics are appropriate, especially from an economical
standpoint," said Dr. Cory Russell, a primary care physician for UMC
Quick Care. "Do they not work in some situations? Absolutely. But
for the most part, they are no different than brand-name drugs."
An example of when a generic might not be suitable for a patient
versus a brand-name is with certain antibiotics, Russell said.
Because anti-biotics have been around for many years, some patients
will develop a resistance to them. In those situations, a brand-
name antibiotic that has been on the market a shorter period of time
might be better for the patient than one that has been around a long
time, Russell said.
The older drugs "have a chance of failing," he said.
Russell said patients should not fear generic drugs.
Although generics by definition are copies of brand-name drugs,
the federal Food and Drug Administration requires the same standards
for them as they do any other drug, said Don Frisch, a University
Medical Center clinical pharmacist.
Aside from appearance, packaging and the name, the only
difference between generics and brand names is the price. And that
has nothing to do with quality or effectiveness, Frisch said.
Generics are less expensive because their manufacturers didn't
have to pay for research and development or for the marketing of the
drugs, since they were directly copied from brand-name drugs. Brand-
name drugs, or newly patented drugs, must be marketed because nobody
knows about them, Frisch said.
"This is not a slam on brand-name drugs, because they do get
hammered for having high prices. But they only have so much time to
recoup money for years of research and marketing. It's really
tough."
Frisch said when a pharmaceutical company brings a new drug to
the market, tens of millions of dollars have been spent researching,
developing, marketing and promoting the drug. A patent is granted
that gives the company exclusive rights to sell the drug as long as
the patent is in effect.
According to the FDA's Web site, patents expire 17 years from the
date of the first filing.
Once the patent expires, a generic manufacturer can apply to the
FDA for permission to make and sell generic versions of the drug.
"Since the generic versions don't need to be marketed, the
companies that make those drugs don't need start-up costs to make
the drug from scratch," Frisch said.
Two drugs have generic versions, but the FDA doesn't consider
them to be exact matches and therefore doesn't believe they have the
same effectiveness as the brand names, Frisch said. Those two drugs
are Coumadin, a blood thinner, and Synthroid, a synthetic thyroid
hormone.
The generic version of Coumadin is warfarin. The generic version
of Synthroid is levothyroxidine.
Because the FDA doesn't consider the generics to be exact matches
of Coumadin and Synthroid, Frisch said doctors are hesitant to
prescribe them.
Hospitals other than UMC also encourage generic drugs, as well as
other prescription drug programs, as a way to save money.
Most drugs stocked in Valley Hospital Medical Center's InstyMeds
machine are generics, hospital officials said.
Patients can purchase prescribed medications from the vending
machine in the hospital's emergency department. It is stocked with
prepackaged antibiotics, decongestants, painkillers and inhalers,
health officials said.
United Health Services, which operates Valley Hospital and four
other hospitals in Las Vegas that make up the Valley Health System,
launched a prescription savings program in late 2007 to help
patients save on drug costs.
During the first three quarters of 2008, the program saved
patients roughly $38,000, said Howard Dorsky, director of the
centralized billing office for the Valley Health System.
The program is for the uninsured and the insured, he said.
Although figures aren't available for recent quarters, more
patients are enrolling in the program, said Stacy O'Meara, admitting
manager of the Valley Health System.
"With today's economy, every-one's welcoming a discount if they
can get it," she said.
Emergency room patients who have been given a prescription are
told about the prescription savings program, O'Meara said.
If they choose to enroll, they are given a card that enables them
to get their prescriptions filled at a participating pharmacy where
they can save up to 60 percent of retail costs. The prescription
card is valid at more than 33,000 retail pharmacies across the
country, including Walgreens and CVS, Dorsky said.
"The program is very big in areas, like Las Vegas, where there's
a large indigent population. It's bad enough that these people don't
have health insurance, then they get sick and need expensive drugs
to get better."
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