Overpaying for generic medicine

[disneysteve]

I encounter the occasional patient who is convinced that a generic must be inferior because it is so much cheaper. I do my best to explain how most of the cost of the brand name drug is to recoup the development costs of the drug, not the actual production costs which are relatively minimal. Since the generic company doesn't have the development costs, they just need to cover their production and distribution costs. They also don't have the advertising costs of the brand product. That's why they are able to sell their versions so much cheaper. I also point out that very commonly, the generic is made by the very same company as the brand, even on the same production line in the same factory.