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Ken, The Expose related to 3rd world countries not under the control of the FDA. All generics sold across state lines (virtually all of them) must meet FDA standards. The drug companies count on and foster suspicion of the generics which cost as much as 10 or 20 times the cost of brand name drugs. The cost of the drug development (plus a handsome profit) is included in the price of brand-name meds which the developing company has exclusive rights to for about 7 years. During that time they flood the market with advertising to especially physicians. Notice how in just 3 months on this list we went from talking about pramipexole to Mirapex. The sales people have done their job. We through out doctors etc. have picked up the brand name and use it. I paid over $300 for my last Mirapex prescription. I will bet you the ingredients for the drug itself didn't cost the company more than $10-20 for the 150 tablets. Over the next 6 years the price is unlikely to drop and may increase. Then generics will appear and the company will count on all the loyal Mirapex fans who are fearful of getting something lesser in a generic drug. They will continue high profits because of the "brand loyalty" they have developed. Also "coincidentally" they often come out with a new product in the same group which is the new improved version (sometimes accurately and sometimes Hype). Notice the timing or the release of roperinol and pramipexole just a year or 2 after pergolide and bromocriptine became available generically. I would hope the pharmacists on the list will comment. I am not saying that there is no chance of getting a bad generic but by the same token brand name drugs also have been known to be recalled. Health care costs are so high at this point if we can do something to keep the costs down that does not hurt our care, maybe the money saved can be used for something that makes a difference. With rare exceptions there is not significant differences between generics and brand name drugs. But on the other side if you take a generic and have significant problems- for whatever reason- (and in most cases that reason will be anxiety related to the change rather than a pharmacological reason) then you should take the brand name drug because it works better for you and efficacy should always be the bottom line. Now that I have thoroughly confused everybody I will be looking for comments. Charlie KEn Becker wrote: > > To Don and Doc Charlie: I can see both sides of this situation. MANY generic > products, not just medicines, are identical to the brand name equivalents. > SOMEtimes, though, the reason the generic is cheaper, has to do with > packaging, warranties, customer service, quality control, cheaper labor > sources, or sometimes just "a good feeling, often unjustified". I just saw a > TV expose' regarding an ingredient being substituted in a medication, > causing many deaths of babies and young children. the original source of the > ingredient happened to be China, as far back as they could trace it, due to > lack of cooperation by the Chinese company. The reason for the substituition > was a "money" thing, not a human error, or innocent mistake. I am sure that > was an isolated incident, but when we are talking about human lives, we > should realize bying from a well known company USUALLY provides better > testing and quality control. When buying non-medical products, you can buy > questionable products to save money, if you make a mistake, you just don't > buy the product next time. You only get one life, why risk it unnecessarily > for a few dollars? Ken B -- CHARLES T. MEYER, M.D. Middleton, WI [log in to unmask]