from Teri's Keyboard

ARE Generics the Same?

The next time you're getting medication for your Migraines or for anything else, and someone tells you, "Generics are just as good as brand names," you might want to do some checking. We've all heard it, haven't we? You know the drill, especially if an insurance company is involved...

"Buy the generic..."

"You can save money with the generic..."

"The generic is just as good..."

"The generic has to have exactly the same active ingredient as the brand name. The FDA says so."

"The FDA says so?" Do they really? Well, not exactly. When it comes to bioavailability, by the current FDA regulations, generics can be anywhere from 20% below to 20% above the brand name. (Bioavailability is the rate at which a medication is rate at which a substance (such as a medication) is absorbed into the body and made available at its site of action.) If your pharmacy happens to fill your prescription with a generic from one company one time, and another company the next, there could be up to a 40% variance.

To me, that doesn't sound the same at all.

Live well,

PS: I learned about this while researching an article about problems with different topiramate (Topamax) generics. If you'd like to read that article, you can find it HERE.

I've Been in Medco Hell

I know I should be thankful to have insurance that covers prescription medications. And I keep telling myself that. Between Migraines, hypertension, arthritis, coronary artery disease, diabetes, and more, our pharmacy bills can be astronomical.

Our prescription coverage "encourages" us to order 90-day supplies of our meds through mail-order giant Medco. I say "encourages" in quotes because we're actually penalized if we use a local pharmacy for prescriptions that we refill on a regular basis. The refills cost more when filled locally.

Over the years, our copayments have gone up and up. Today, for a 90-day supply of a brand name drug, we pay $45 OR 25% of the cost of the prescription, whichever is MORE.

Anyway, all of that's background to this past week spent in Medco hell. I had been filling my Armour thyroid prescription locally because it's very inexpensive. A few months ago, Medco contacted my doctor and got him to transfer the prescription to them. Now, when I tried to fill it for just the second time, there is a shortage of Armour, and they can't fill it. They ask my doctor to switch me to a synthetic thyroid. He refuses. They jerk us around all  week, THEN call me and essentially tell me I'm on my own, to get a new prescription and get it filled wherever I can.

Now, I can understand that they're having a supply problem. What I can neither understand nor accept is that it took them all week, several communications with my doctor, three emails and two phone calls from me only to finally dump the problem back in my lap. Had they told me this on Monday, the problem would have been resolved. But, no. They waited until late Friday afternoon when doctor's offices are closed for the weekend.

At times such as these, I do not feel grateful for prescription drug coverage.

Live well,