by Angela Stevens on May 26, 2010
I have often been given conflicting advice about brand versus generic medications. My great aunt, who is now in her nineties, refuses to take any type of generic medication because her pharmacist once told her they are not identical to the generic versions and it was best to stick with the original. This has cost her thousands upon thousands of dollars over the years.
Of course, I do not rely only on advice from my great aunt. There have also been numerous investigative reports that indicate that generic guidelines are not as rigorously controlled as those followed by the original patent holder. However, in all fairness, the primary differences are not in the active ingredients, but rather in the fillers and the time release mechanisms. In fact, the FDA requires that generics be the bioequivalent of the original medication, but they are not allowed to look like the original, which means the generic drugs are supposed to look different. So when do those two things really matter? To find out, I spoke with two of my doctors and my pharmacist regarding a few of my own specific questions. [continue reading…]
by Angela Stevens on January 11, 2010
Recently, my husband informed me that our health insurance coverage was going to be changing. We had four new options, all with benefits different from what we have had for the past several years. Some of these changes are good, but some, like our prescription medication coverage, is not so good. My husband works for a company that employs a large portion of the population where we live, and I knew these changes would be affecting all of their employees to some degree.
I was thinking about this, and how much of a headache it was going to be for me when I went to my pharmacy to get my prescriptions refilled. [continue reading…]
by Angela Stevens on August 10, 2009
It is completely normal for people not to want to take medications. There are adverse side effects to worry about as well as the potentially overwhelming cost. Because of these concerns, many people opt to try herbal or “all natural” remedies for their ailments. They may even try these remedies just to improve their overall health. Unlike prescriptions, however, these remedies do not usually come with a warning about any harmful drug interactions.
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by Angela Stevens on April 9, 2009
Becoming a pharmacist takes a lot of training. Pharmacy used to be a five-year degree, but it is now a six-year degree. To be a pharmacist, you must earn your Doctor of Pharmacy degree, or PharmD. This is a professional degree, not a graduate degree. While pharmacists may be referred to by the title of Doctor, they can dispense drugs but not prescribe them. [continue reading…]