I had posted this before, but the E-Mail PO returned an undecipherable message, so that I do not know if in fact it has been sent out. MM ================================= After reading all the complaints about DRUG SPECIFICATIONS /Generics, below, I felt that the misconceptions of drug manufacturing and regulations should be set straight. The Internet provided some of the following information. The USP [United States Pharmacopeial Convention] and NF [National Formulary] establishes standards for the manufacture and distribution of drugs and related products in the US, and develops drug information that is recognized by Federal and state legislation http://www.usp.org/ It is available in a hardcover Edition and on CD-ROM and on CD-ROM in Spanish It has become the worldwide standard of excellence as the official compendia of acceptable standards for Strength Quality Purity Packaging Labeling Storage For drugs and excipients, the USP and NF are two of the world's most trusted references. These combined resources, published once every five years, contain over 3,700 monographs and also provide standards for devices, diagnostics, nutritional supplements, botanicals, and compounded pharmaceuticals. The USP and NF are essential resources for pharmaceutical scientists who must comply with official standards and for health care professionals who are concerned about standards for articles used in their practice. The USP/NF establishes standards for all human drugs used in this country, and has become the standard for most of the world, BUT only after the FDA [Food and Drug Administration] has approved them. This approval comprises a comprehensive and exhaustive review of all the chemical, biological, pharmacological, and physical data provided by the manufacturer. When the FDA is satisfied that a drug has met all the requirements stipulated in the CFR [Code of Federal Regulations], the USP takes over the jurisdiction of establishing the standard for the drug, BUT the FDA is the agent responsible for enforcing these standards. After a drug has been approved and a standard established, ALL subsequent manufacturers [e.g., generics] of the same drug, usually after expiration of the patent or by license, MUST be the same standards of strength, quality, and purity established in the original drug application. The USP/NF compendium comprises descriptions and assays of each drug entity and major dosage forms. Assay methodology for determining the strength, quality, and purity of a drug depends to a large extend upon its nature and manufacturing process. For instance, a vaccine is usually testing 'in vivo', whereas a manufactured chemical substance will normally be assayed by physico-chemical means. The method of choice nowadays is HPLC [High Performance Liquid Chromatography] which has largely replaced absolete methods because it is capable of achieving all the desired purposes of the monograph, i.e., it provides the qualitative and quantitative results required by law. The assays must also be able to give accurate and precise results, where accuracy reflects deviation from the true value and precision is a measure of the repeatability of the test. The purer the drug substance, better accuracy and precision can be achieved. However, drug dosage forms are formulated with a great variety of excipients, and compressing tablets or filling capsules identically within a range of let's say 5% may not be easy to achieve. The monograph for Carbidopa in Sinemet specifically requires that its content not deviate by more than 10% of the labeled amount; that variation is an aggregate of every step in the manufacture of the drug product. When the product does not meet the specified requirements, the FDA has the authority to take corrective legal actions. ================================== Will Johnston wrote: > The variability from batch to batch of the name brand stuff can vary as > much or more than the variation between the generic and the name brand > stuff. I have found more variation in Sinemet than in the generic > equivalent from TEVA. and Carol Walton wrote: > My name is Carol Walton and I am a member of the Parkinson Alliance > Executive Committee--I am usually silent on the listserv but I am catching > up on e-mail having just returned from the East--I was told by one of the > drug companies that there can be at 20% difference --plus or minus--when > different companies make generic drugs--therefore you could be taking a > brand name drug--switch to a generic and have a 40% difference--some > companies and now trying to set a standard since this can be devastating > especially with Parkinsons medications--I hope some others answer you also > since I am not an expert in any way shape or form--but I hope this helps > and you might run this by your pharmacist--good luck--carol walton and Nigel Harland wrote: > Does anyone know what Quality Control tolerances are applied >during the production runs of the meds' that we take? The reason I ask >is that on several occasions recently I have experienced severely >delayed "kick-in" of Madopar, which I normally have few problems with so >long as I stick to the same dosing regime. >Having worked in a Quality Control environment for Coca-Cola and >Schweppes soft drinks who apply strict tolerances on both the volume and >strength of their products, I know from experience that problems with " >out of spec' " product do happen, especially at the start and end of >production runs, and despite the best efforts of the Quality control >departments some of these below standard products occasionally escape the >net and reach the consumer. >Do the same problems exist in the production runs of Drugs? Could my >delayed "kick-in" be due to a sub-standard batch of Madopar capsules? or >should I be looking elsewhere for the cause of the problem? -------------------- and George J. Lussier wrote: > This morning I read Carol Walton's posting on generics and was reminded that > back in 6/96 I wrote a brief note on the same issue.Sad to say that I never > could track down the FDA's Blue book or Red book or which ever book > contained such a standard. And as I recall there was very little interest > from the list at that time. Perhaps today? > > >6/09/96 George Lussier wrote: > >"Did you know that a GENERIC drug maker is allowed to make his drug with > >a leeway of 20%, more or less than the brand name drug. That means that you > >may be getting 20% more or less of the primary ingredient when you shift > >from the brand name to a Generic. AND if you shift from one generic to > >another the difference could be as much as 40%!!! Do you believe it? I'm > >trying to track down the chapter and verse via the FDA" > and Gerry & Brig Haines wrote: > This has been mentioned often, if you are dealing with a drugstore like > Walgreen or Eckert, etc,,,,, according to a pharmacist, they put contract out > on generic drugs, therefore you can get a different supplier every month. If > you deal with a pharmacy as Athena, again according to a pharmacist. you will > have the same supplier month after month because they are a distributor and > deal with the same supplier every month. I hope I reported this correctly. > Gerry > Gerry, > Even with the same supplier every month the problem still persists. One >batch of generics may vary +/- 20% according to FDA regs.The FDA regs are >the problem not the supplier. > george >george, >that's interesting. :-) >it's not often I hear the FDA being the problem. >all the more power to ya >Bonnie daughter of Jim 77/3