Are Generic Drugs the Same as Name Brand?

Creative commons photo by Katy Warner

On a recent plane trip, I had an interesting conversation with a quality control specialist for a generic drug company. He was a friendly man, and he opened up to me about the quality of generic drugs. 

During the conversation, he said that generic drugs are not as good as their name brand counterparts. He said that generic companies have about 10% flexibility with their ingredients, and that it's always best to purchase name brand drugs. He also said he's visited his company's factory in China which creates generic drugs, and that the factory is in a highly polluted part of China. In fact, upon returning home from this weekend trip to China, he was coughing up black mucous for a few days.

I was surprised to hear him say all of this, simply because I've always heard that generic brand quality is the same as name brand quality. However, he said that this is just false advertising done by generic drug companies, such as the one that he works at. 

What are your thoughts and experiences with generic drugs?

Corporate Pharmaceutical Greed is Destroying Countless Lives

As a person who has worked with adults with developmental disabilities now for about 10 years, I have witnessed the over-medicating of this community. A vast majority of adults with developmental disabilities are being prescribed a cocktail of medications. This is a new phenomenon in America, and is fueled not by an increase of depression, but by an increase of greed. Each new prescription means hundreds of dollars a month that is legally stolen from people with disabilities and their health insurance providers. I say it is stolen because the majority of the people being pushed to take these medications are not in need of them. In fact, many of these drugs ultimately make people worse off.

Tragically, speaking against these greedy corporate moguls is not always protected by law. Their power is so great that they force people, including me, to say "I am not giving you medical advice. Please speak to your doctor for medical advice. " The fact that only doctors are allowed to give health advice is a scary notion and a direct violation of the First Amendment. Without our health we have nothing, and I personally trust life experience over the letters M.D. behind someone's name.

Of course, there are thousands of great Doctors and great medications that save people's lives on a daily basis. But there are far too many doctors who have allowed the pharmaceutical industry to make their decisions for them. And the side effects of these medications are destroying countless lives, especially the weakest among us. To save these lives, we must remember that health does not ultimately come from the newest lab created pill, but from healthy lifestyle choices such as diet, exercise and rest.