Why doctors need to prescribe more generic drugs to patients

Currently, it’s either the doctors do not know the brand-name drugs already have generic versions or that they have become used to prescribing them.

For patients with diabetes who are beneficiaries of Medicare, experts found that up to 45 percent of their prescriptions are brand name drugs.

According to Medical Xpress, the American College of Physicians (ACP) suggests that every single clinician out there should prescribe generic medicines to the patients whenever possible.

Doing so could help patients save money, and might increase the odds that they’ll take their medications as directed, the national organization said.

Despite what some patients and even doctors may believe, generics are consistently as effective and safe as their brand-name counterparts, he said.

“Generic medications are cheaper and patients are more likely to get those prescriptions filled”, said Dr. Amir Qaseem of the American College of Physicians, who coauthored the recommendation.

ACP President Wayne J. Riley, MD, MPH, MBA, MACP said that while it is true that the use of generic medicines is increasing, it is still an undeniable fact that most doctors choose to prescribe branded medicines even when a cheaper yet equally effective generic alternatives are available. They also looked at how well generic medications work, and if generic drug use affects how well patients stick to their treatment plan.

Check the video below to understand why branded medicines are more expensive than the generic drugs.

Using generics could help motivate patients concerned about out-of-pocket health care costs take their medication as directed by their doctor, the ACP suggested in the news release. This can result to inadvertently prescribing more costly medications. Despite this, many physicians and patients still express a preference for brand name drugs. This will contribute in reducing the prescription drug costs and help patients adhere to their medications.

There are many rumors about generic medicines.

Continuing physician education programs could keep doctors abreast of available generics, as well as interactive options on electronic health records, he said.

“For example, a meta-analysis of 47 studies compared the effectiveness of generic and brand-name drugs in nine classes of cardiovascular medications and found no evidence of superiority of brand-name medication, including among anticoagulants and antiarrhythmics with narrow therapeutic windows”, they explain.

“A large scale public awareness campaign is what’s needed”, added Qaseem.