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Employee misconceptions: Generics are inferior, right?

by August 31, 2009 4 Comments

You may want to schedule some time to give employees a refresher on the many benefits of generics.

Most employers would be shocked to find just how many of their employees are unaware the only thing separating brand-name drugs from the generics is the price-tag.

In fact, a recent survey by PBM Prescription Solutions and UnitedHealth Group found that most consumers still believe generics aren’t as effective as their brand-name counterparts.

Other key findings the study uncovered:

  • Approximately one out of every three employees think generics don’t have the same active ingredients as the brand-name version, and
  • Around two out of three employees believe there’s little to no difference in the cost to employers for offering generic and brand-name drugs.

So what’s the best way to clear up incorrect perceptions about generics? Educate employees about the safety and quality (virtually no difference in effectiveness, same ingredients, etc.), as well as the low cost of generics.

Categories: Healthcare Reform, In this week's e-newsletter, Management, Pay and Benefits
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  • Rita

    I agree generics are not inferior in most cases. HOWEVER, if you take a generic (e.g. for the rest of your life), you have to be aware when your pharmacy changes the supplier/manufacturer of the generic drug. You could be over or under-medicated, and might require blood tests to ensure you are properly medicated.

  • Stacy

    I have had employees swear that a generic form of a medication does not work as well as a Name Brand. I think it’s mostly mind over matter and with me, if I can’t get the generic version of a medication, I will ask the doctor to find me a similar medication in a generic form. It does not make sense to go Name Brand if you don’t have to. My husband takes a medication that won’t have a Generic version until 2016 and he’s paying $50 a month. With his case, this is the only thing that works for his high blood pressure. It’s a two in one medication and he has gone through others that simply didn’t work as well. Rita is right, you should always be aware of changes in the supplier manufacturer of your generic drug.

  • Keith

    I agree that in most cases, generic drugs are the bio-equivelent of the brand-name drugs. However, a recent study showed that in some cases, even though the amount of active ingredients in the generic drugs match the brand name drugs, the time-release aspects were significantly different.

    The brand-name companies may have a patented/proprietary/secret formula to time the dosage release over time that the generics don’t match. So one may get a lot more dosage at once, which drops-off precipitously or alternatively may get it released equally over time whereas the original manufacturer created it to give a large dosage at first and then drop to a lower-level release.

    I suspect that this type of situation would be for a minority of drugs on the market, but it is a real concern if your medicine isn’t distributed dosage-wise in the manner designed and tested by the big pharmaceutical companies.

    In general, I always opt for generics myself for the cost-saving reasons. However I also try to assess if anything seems different than when using the brand-name version.

  • Stacy

    KEITH: I think you may have an excellent point….something I have never thought about before. With that said, I can see how it could be different. I know a person that was on nexium and it didn’t work so they prescribed Prilosec and it does work. The doctor said they are the same exact drugs, just different names but it could be the way the dosage is released which is why she feels the nexium doesn’t work.