A new recommendation was released by the American College of Physicians that states prescribing generic medicines instead of branded drugs could improve patience adherence and overall health. These and a few more dollars you can save.
As reported in Reuters, generic medicines are at par with their brand-name counterparts in terms of effectiveness. According to Dr. Amir Qaseem of the American College of Physicians and who also co-authored the recommendation, "Generic medications are cheaper and patients are more likely to get those prescriptions filled."
The advice is not just given to doctors but also for patients as well. "This is for both physicians and patients", Qaseem told the news site.
The ACP thoroughly reviewed existing data and found that almost half of the doctors still prescribe brand-name medications. In their review, they found that 45 percent Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes were prescribed with brand-name drugs when similar generics are available. As much as $1.4 billion could be saved up for Medicare recipients if they choose to buy generics or other similar therapeutic generic medicines.
Reviewers noted in the Annals of Internal Medicine that although brand name prescriptions are twice as likely to be prescribed, it is mostly never picked u from the pharmacy. Not adhering to prescribed medications could result to undue expenses for the patients later on.
Dr. Jerome Avorn, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston gives his insight about the situations. "Often, patients don't tell their doctors they can't afford an expensive drug they were prescribed; they just fail to take it, or take it at sub-therapeutic (too low) doses because of its cost," he said. "And this has major health effects."
The new recommendation was made after a thorough review of existing evidence from a huge number of relevant studies in the medical literature.
"Logically it might feel like people should already be using (generics), but that's not the case," Qaseem said.
There may be instances that doctors prescribe brand name medicines out of habit or they are not aware that a generic form of the medication is already available. Thus, it is ideal for the continued physician education programs to keep doctors updated with the available generics in the market. There are also interactive options on electronic records that doctors may also use.
"A large scale public awareness campaign is what's needed," he said. "Many think if it's cheaper it's not as good."
The American College of Physicians is one of the most widely respected authorities in medicine. So their recommendation is something that we should consider the next time we visit our doctors and pharmacy.
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