Generic medicines Questions

+1. Online pharmacy appa like 1mg, truemeds, pharmeasy, netmeds etc have so many alternatives from lesser known companies, are they really effective?

I dont have that much idea  bro tag some doctors but i can suggest u to watch one episode from satyamev jayate regarding generic medicine (amir khan was host)

Though big brands maintain quality to some extent, there is of course no surety of quality in unknown brands. 

So instead of buying generic medicines online, buy from local reputed shops. They might have slight knowledge of counterfeit medicines.

Big company also want to recover r&d cost, manufacturing quality, r&d cost if any. Plus profits also.

I prefer the branded only especially if it's of high importance for eg: kidney or heart related.

Normal multivitamin I get from sarkari aushadi stores.

Problem with generic medicines is you need to get 2-3 different tablets to get the right combination present in single tablet.

Also you can check with doctor for alternate companies manufacturing same tablet with different name and exactly same composition

Our CDSCO is a joke

So nobody maintains standards to full extent.

Atleast for reputed brands their reputation is at stake which forces them to maintain certain standard. For unknown companies bindaas.

Quality of drug manufacturing and surety of its pharmacodynamics. These are maintained by the branded companies. While the generic one may or may not maintain it. Its like Maaza , Slice, Real . All make katrina and  kiara and pooja orgasm with mango juice. They have same mango but a little different 

Recently even the biggest generic brands were found to be selling some meds that were Not of Standard Quality so... According to the great Ministry of Health NSQ meds can't cause bodily harm so the previous provisions that included the possibility of criminal prosecution have been watered down in a new bill. 

P.S. I found the local Jan Ausadhi store selling 160mg of Fexofenadine which is not all a standard dosage. The JA app itself correctly mentions 120 & 180mg.Upon enquiring with the customer service they kept several people in the loop, agreed that it wasn't standard dosage and asked me to provide a pic of the package. I went there about a week later when the weather had cleared up a bit and to my surprise  the entire stock was no longer available. There were at least half a dozen packs and Fexofenadine isn't a particularly popular one from what I gather. Maybe the JA folks had recalled it? Anyway my followup email received no response and I left it at that. Even if it's just a case of printing mistake it doesn't inspire much confidence. I ordered a generic alternative via Medplus. Most offline stores were keen to peddle Allegra which costs 4x. 

@romilq

I think if the salt is same then one can take generic meds, no harm in that.

Even civil hospital doc's gave generic meds.

140 cr ki abadi branded nhi khati.

Rahi baat quality ki, vo toh branded mai bhi guaranteed nhi hai as u urself said they qc bodies.

Apni jeb dekho , genuine substitute lo doc ki salah se.

Brands heavy promotion karti hai bribe karti hai naam bnati hai rnd mai invest karti hai isiliy mhengi hoti hai.

Not sure but unka patent ek period ke liy haihota , uske baad koi bhi vo formula use karke med bna sakta hai tabhi generic banti hai.

Generic - no rnd, no promotion no bribe, isiliy sasti

For heart medications avoid generic medicines unless it is very common drug like some beta blocker. I myself do not trust generic drug manufacturers to maintain quality. I mean kitna quality control hoga I don't know. During corona I had very bad experiences with multiple generic brands. Maybe it was specific to that time coz corona ke time bahut fakes aa gaye the market me sabhi drugs ke. But some manufacturers do not even have any website, nothing comes up on Google search still they were selling very important drugs.

I’ll answer in basic language  

Generic medicines carry substitute salt which isn’t mass tested/no decent studies availability nor patent that’s why it’s cheaper. Always RISKY! 

Branded ones recommended by doctors are tested with study on mass number so doc’s don’t take risk while recommending you that. They know it’ll work. Now, here comes 3 situations: 

1. If you can afford, you really won’t be asking this question and moving to branded ones. 

2. If you can afford but don’t want to waste money on medicine, you’ll check all alternatives and take risk for generic to save some money. Money isn’t > than life. 

3. If you can’t afford, you’ll go for generic medicine. 

I can give you my example; I’m taking rybelsus 14mg per day, just 3 strips of this cost me 11,400/month. If I couldn’t afford, I would’ve opted for generic one. 🤷‍♂️

Bro simple example

A same spec phone is offered by two or more brands

Eg. Samsung, OnePlus and Itel,Techno

Samsung, OnePlus charging more for their quality and brand value whereas Itel, Techno giving it at a cheaper rate.Which Phone will you buy?

f ... i would love to see some doctors views onthis 

I will try to explain in simple language.

There are three types of drugs.

1. Patented drug :  These drugs are patented means only the company which have developed it can manufacture. Company tries to cover cost of drug discovery. Developing a new drug costs arround 1-2 billion USD. That's why they are costly.

2. Branded Generics : After expiry of patents any company can manufacture that drug following certain standards I.e. GMP(Good Manufacturing Practices). BA/BE has to be same as original drug. Simply put aim is to produce effect same as original patented drug. Companies like Cipla, Lupin produce generics mostly.

3. Generics by other companies : Same regulations for these also. Manufactured by lesser known pharmas.

Doctor while prescribing prefers Orginal drug or Branded Generics which they have experience of.

Generics madicine ideally should produce same effect as that of original drug but due to violations of regulation there are chances that active ingredient in generic drug may be of low concentration. eg Drug Amoxicillin+Clavulunate - hear the doctor will prefer original drug that is augmented because the generic companies may not even put the costly compound clavulanet at all. Similarly doctors will prefer dolo or calpol because other genetic drugs may not even contain the paracetamol in concentration of 500 mg.

Solution: so unless and until CDSCO I.e. the regulatory authority of India implements the stringent good manufacturing practices there will be always hesitation on part of the doctor as well as the patient about generic drugs.

its not about salt its the other item which helps the salt to absord in body, i observed more side effects with cheap medicines with same salt, bt as it was not for some serious condition like heart i still use cheap one as effect is same, but i would not cheap out heart medicine going agaisnt doctors 

This is what I do..

I generally buy medicines online and if there's a cheaper alternative available with price difference of more than 40%, I choose the latter. Also these are from brands which are somewhat less popular and there's no harm as per me.

For example: I needed Montelukast tab which I generally have from Sun Pharma named Mondeslor but this time I went from Systopic Lab as it was around 50% cheaper. But for heart and other major ones, I'd suggest to stick to doctor's prescribed drug, if possible.

Also if you need a major drug on regular basis, it's better to consult your doctor or any other medical practitioner before choosing the alternative. 

just google

Katherine Eban : bottle of lies

@Ramta_Jogi

In short : Generic Medicines are as good as branded medicine. But consult with your doctor first about it. Ask doctor if you can use the Generic medecine of same composition salt as there are many duplicate brands , search about the company from google. There are very popular brands like 

Sun Pharma

Divi's Lab

Dr. Reddy's 

Cipla 

Emcure Pharma

Biocon 

Torrent Pharma

Lupin 

Zydus Life or Cadila 

Aurobindo Pharma 

Intas Pharma

Glenmark Pharma 

Mankind Pharma 

Laurus Labs 

Abbott 

Alkem Lab

Alembic Pharma

but remember mostly fraudsters copy popular brands and medicines. So just consult with doctor about the Generic brand. 

"I am asking say Lupin is selling this medicine for rs.500 now there are other small and never heard of companies selling the same medicine, in medicine shops and not in jan ashudi centers" - Ha usi ko generic medicine bolte hai. Like for example the drug for erectile dysfunction is Sildenafil citrate commonly sold by Pfizer under the brand name Viagra. Pfizer owns it. But other companies are also selling the same drug Sildenafil citrate under other brand names like Vigora, Suhagra and what not. These are generic medicines which contain the same drug but may have other ingredients too. Some companies are producing Sildenafil citrate under license from Pfizer in India. So you should prefer such big companies as there is some assurance about quality control. Doctors themselves do not trust never heard of pharma companies as there is no idea about quality control and what is the efficacy of the drugs manufactured by these never heard of brands. 

https://m.economictimes.com/industry/healthcare...

My Suggestion Take Only USFDA Approved Drugs

Complicating matters even further even some of the biggest generic med manufacturers like Sun, Cipla, Macleod's at times sub-contract the actual production to a smaller firm. 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-08... 

I have been using geenric medicines since many years and have never ever had any issues, related to quality, or potency or any other issue. 

Only thing is,  exercise caution in buying generics. For example, I'd never buy generic medicines for a pregnant lady. However for normal things like cough, cold medicine, or antibiotics or other such routine medicines like painkillers etc, generics can definitely be considered. You can buy generics from chains like Davai India or Zeno health, who maintain good quality generics. Or you can buy from govt shops like Jan Aushadhi shops near you 

Never Ever go for generic medicine if you are taking it for serious disease, Same composition same potency in generic medicine is less than half. I've tried it on my mom, she is on medication since 14 years and whenever i tried to provide generic medicine things did not go well.

But you can try different good known brand substitute from 1mg if you are getting it cheaper, try to change 1 by 1 so you will know medicine is working or not.

Its not just because of substitute salts but also for the fact the the primary company which invented the medicine which had initially lockin period of 3-5 years still get royalty for the brand life long.

For example to Pantaprozole 40 which is widely known as PAN 40 costing around Rs. 100 Iam getting generic from Rs. 16 to Rs. 30, I prefer to go with a much known brand like Cipla/Abbott/Cadilla in the generic segment paying around Rs. 25 for it.  Similarly for my Cholestrol Rosuvastation 20mg cost around Rs. 300 i get from Rs. 30 from brands like Leeford/Thiogen etc, however i prefer to go with Cadila brand which costs Rs. 80 at Generic.

I get lab tests done every 3 months and keep monitoring and they are working perfectly even the Leeford/Thiogen when used i got it checked and i have no complaints.

It's too easy. The original inventor maintains quality. Quality mean active ingredient ratio to the impurities. For simple drugs like Paracetamol, Cetrizine HCl generics from reputed brands like Sun, Cipla work fine but especially in speciality medicines or anti biotics etc. original inventor quality is better.

Ques: Whenever I get a generic medicine from govt hospital/dispensary, I can see that its poorly packed, poorly made (rough unfinished edges) and at times have a stinking smell.

I am all for generic medicines, but not for sub-standard, low quality and impure product in the name of Generic medicines.

Is there any govt lab or certified center where I can get them checked for quality? (I read in newspaper that XYZ Pharma's samples failed in lab tests). Can a common man gets his medicines tested to be confident he is not being mistreated in the name of generic?

Many brainiacs have shared a lot of knowledge here about generic medicines so I will to give any more Gyan rather will share my life experience about generic medicines. I have been using generic medicines for past 4years for every small or big medical condition and have found the equal to the branded ones when it comes to functionality. 
So I did human trails not only on my body but its conducted on 15 members of my family and no problem rather medicines work exactly the same as big brand ones work. 
This is my personal experience rest it's your wish. Thanks