You’ve no doubt seen them in the grocery store — typically drab-looking packages on the bottom shelf containing lower-priced generic versions of popular brand-name products. Some shoppers look at them with skepticism: Are they really as good? Or does cheaper just mean lower quality?
Many people have the same questions about generic prescription medications, says Dr. Niteesh K. Choudhry, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and executive director of the Center for Healthcare Delivery Sciences at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Are generic drugs really the same quality, or is it better to spend more for the name-brand version?
A Canadian study published in the October 2017 issue of Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes revived discussion about the value of those lower-priced alternatives. It found that patients who took generic versions of three different blood pressure medications in the months after the generic drugs became available saw increased rates of drug-related side effects. Study authors said this might suggest performance differences between the brand-name and generic drugs.
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