I think I forgot to mention in my original
post that most generics are made by the brand name manufactures. Most start
making their own “generic” product after the patent expires on
their original product. That way the original brand name company does not loose
their market share. Sometimes it is hard to explain to our customers that they
really are getting the “generic” because it looks and is marked the
same as the original. Most people don’t know or understand the process
for brand to generic conversion so never feel good about saving money on a “generic”.
A store brand is a whole world away from being compared to an AB rated FDA
approved Brand/Generic.
On the horse side of things…If
Biodyl is and illegal substance for use in the US competitions…( I think I
remember reading that). Wasn’t the use of the compounded drug also
illegal? Or do our rules apply to a French team? A terrible tragedy all around.
Dr. Freda Hall, RPh, Pharm.D
From: Carla Richardson
[mailto:richardson.carla@xxxxxxxxx] Sent: Thursday, April 23, 2009
3:49 PM To: fhall Cc: EnduroGal; Ridecamp Ridecamp Subject: Re: [RC] update on polo
horse deaths
Yes, you're right, compounded products are not a true generic
product. But they're usually an attempt to copy or be very close to a
name product. That's why to me, it's similar to a generic product.
I do know that the generics are tested, but I don't think they're 100.000%
exactly the same as the original product.
In this case, if the team had used Biodyl as they apparently had many
times in the past, probably all those horses would be just fine today. I'm
sure that the French manufacturers of Biodyl are feeling slightly better today,
although their product has gotten some adverse publicity over all of this.
I know the argument that you can save money by buying generic, but I
still prefer name brands vs. generics when it's medication, that's just
me. I'm definitely not rolling in money, but I tend to trust name
brands over store brands when it comes to vitamins, medications, that sort of
thing.
