Posted by laima on February 28, 2007, at 18:28:25
In reply to Re: Drug manufacturing and quality control, posted by Squiggles on February 28, 2007, at 17:15:59
But I'd agree!
And I'm sure not all generic manufacturers are the same in their ethics or quality.
I'm personally feeling kind of down on Barr right now: I found their generic version of adderall to be unpredictable and ultimately quite harmful to my mood- and noticed on ADD boards that many people reported complaints about this particular generic that were identical to my own. Same bad effects. Of course, a few people like it- but I thought generics were supposed to be cheaper but identical equivalents to the originals, not behave like altogether distinct meds themselves? I thought the idea was that generics were supposed to be directly interchangeable with the brand versions? That's what all the notices posted around the pharmacies claim. I also find it peculiar that Barr went to the trouble to aquire the Shire original, and is now offering two versions of this medication, when their own generic version was supposedly identical to the original in the first place. And to top it off, they are currently suing Shire to give up the patent to Adderall XR several years early-claiming Shire has a monopoly on it. (Um- Shire invented it...) What's up with that, ethically? Let me guess- then next they will try to buy Shire's original Adderall XR, too? Will Shire then eventually give up developing newer, better meds if generic companies start a habit of suing them out of their patents? I mean, they can't develop drugs for free out of the goodness of their hearts, unfortunately- it has to be profitable- they need an incentive. Govt. doesn't seem interested in funding new drug development, as far as I can tell. So for the time being, I think we are stuck with capitalism. And where I live, pharmacy choices are basically Walgreens or CVS- with a sprinkling of Domonick's/Safeway. Lucky me, my drug coverage is tied to Walgreens. I don't even know of any independent pharmacy anymore. Walgreen's only generic version of adderall is Barr. One Walgreens in fact told me that they have an exclusive contract with Barr for generic "adderall". It's Barr or brand- and brand is now Barr, too. I'm starting to feel like my choices are Barr, Barr, Barr. And it doesn't work for me! And this generic version is no bargain for me or for anyone else who does poorly with it. I feel like the original Shire version worked great for me, and thanks to the generic company's takeover, it appears, feels to be gone. Choices shrunk. Ironically, it's the generic company here that seems to have the real monopoly on "adderalI". I don't like this situation at all.
> Ha ha ha ha!!! Good one:-)
>
> Squiggles
poster:laima
thread:735309
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070224/msgs/737126.html