Generic medications are as effective as their brand-name counterparts and offer significant savings. According to the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS), generic dispensing has increased among private third-party payers growing by 9 percent over the past year, from 48.4 percent in 2005 to 52.6 percent in 2006. Generic medications are much less expensive than brand name medications. A generic medication is equivalent to the corresponding brand name medication. Generic medications are usually less expensive than their brand-name counterparts. Your pharmacist can answer any questions concerning your use of these medications.

Brand name and generic medications are required to deliver the same exact amount of active ingredients in the same amount of time as one another. Just because a medication is “brand name” does not mean that it will work any faster. Brand name drugs and their generics are identical in terms of active ingredients. The generic pills may look different because a different company makes them.

Differences range from the time it takes the drug to react to the effectiveness of the drug. Generally, I’m willing to cope with these differences and can usually work through them — considering the cost of the brand name drug. Differences between the two may occur in the shape, color, flavor and imprints. By law, no two medications can look alike; in order to abide by the legal standards, generic medications must look different than their brand name equivalents. Different pharmacies charge different prices for the same medications. Sometimes the difference in price is fairly significant.

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