Generic drugs aren't just as good as name-brand medication, says the American College of Physicians. They're better.
The lower cost of generics saves patients money and makes it more likely that they'll refill their prescriptions and dutifully take their pills as directed.
"While the use of generic drugs has increased over time, clinicians often prescribe more expensive brand name drugs when equally effective, well proven, and less expensive generic versions are available," ACP President Wayne J. Riley said in a statement. "The use of generic drugs is a high value care way to improve health, avoid harms, and eliminate wasteful practices."
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The announcement from ACP is only the most recent sign of a growing distance between the pharmaceutical industry and doctors. A recent study by a global marketing firm showed that pharma reps don't have nearly the access to doctors that they used to. Many hospitals — particularly those affiliated with universities — now bar doctors from interacting with sales reps.
According to a recent ACP study of Medicare patients being treated for diabetes, between 23 percent and 45 percent of patients are being prescribed name brand drugs even when generic alternatives are available.
While there are some situations in which generic equivalents don't exist, the cheaper medication works just as well for the vast majority of ailments, the group says.
"The vast majority of the peer-reviewed evidence has found that generic drugs are as effective as their branded counterparts regarding clinical outcomes," said a ACP statement.
But the group acknowledges a number of barriers to wider adoption of generics. Many patients assume that name brands perform better, and thus request them. And doctors who are given free samples of name brands by pharma reps are also more likely to prescribe the more expensive drugs.
The solution will come from more education and awareness of generic drugs, ACP says.
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