what is the difference between the trade name and generic name of a drug?

Answer 1

The name. That's it. They are the exact same ingredients. Usually made by the same manufacturer of the brand-name. But so many people feel that they are substandard. The old myth that if it costs more, it must be better.

Wrong.

Answer 2

Mostly the cost of the drug. When a new drug is approved, the FDA protects that company for 5 years so they can recoup their research and development costs for finding this drug. After that time period, it hits the market as a generic. Remember Motrin??? It was a prescription medication for years and now, a bottle of 100 from Equate at Walmart is under 4 dollars.

FDA requires all medications meet a certain standard so, whether generic or brand name, it is the same quality drugs.

Answer 3

The trade name is the name of the pharmaceutical company manufacturing and selling the drug..

The generic name of the drug is the actual generic compounds used in the product..

Answer 4

It's basically the same except for an allowance to change the inactive ingredients, check out http://www.fda.gov/cder/ogd/#Introduction
for more info.

Answer 5

Yes, they are the same compound. They are approved by the FDA, so there is no reason not to trust them.