Are generic brands juat as good as the name brand stuff?

Question

U know like store brand pain reliever gel and let's say Ben-Gay? or Advil and the store brand name pills?

Answer 1

In most cases YES they are just as good. Sometimes the name brand actually makes the generic brand too.

Answer 2

Generic brands aren't manufactured by the store. Check the label and you will see that a lot of generics are made by a name that you know and trust. For example, I was looking at some store brand vitamins and noticed that they were made by the popular aspirin maker Bayer. So product integrity isn't really an issue.

I work in a grocery store and as far as products safety goes, I see far more name brands get recalled back to the manufacturer than generics.

On occasion, generic foods actually taste better than the name brands, but you have to try them out for yourself. It's kind of hit and miss with food. With certain grocery chains, if you don't like the generic brand, you can return opened products to the store for a full refund. Once again, however, you have to check the label to see if it has a product guarantee or not.

So go for the cheap stuff, especially if you can return it!

Answer 3

Absolutely and they save you a lot of money, too. Always ask your doctor if he can write it for the generic brand. If he says no, then you know there is a good reason, like maybe the generic brand doesn't work as well, or maybe there is no generic brand for that prescription. Otherwise, use generic. Insurance companies like it when you use generic brands because it costs them a lot less, too. There really is no difference in the pills, just may be a different shape or color, but the strength is the same. And, the costs is always a lot less to you.

Answer 4

Absolutely. Check ingredients/components to make sure they're the same. Most of the time, the generic is not as attractive but it works fine.
Save some money--sometimes food store brands like cereals rate better than the name brand: Check out Consumer Reports.

You asked a smart question.

Answer 5

A generic brand is generally cheaper than a brand name because of greater mass production and sale ethic, not because they are "cheaper" to produce or because they are inferior. The main reason generic brands are so cheap is simply because the execs of the company have simply decided to offer more for less, thus influencing the price; since the retail company tends to sell more of the cheaper or cheapest varieties of whatever in stock, the cheaper sale from the manufacturer generally means that the reduced savings will be passed down to the consumer. My source? A little bit of logic and a bit of knowledge about how our economy ticks (I like finding out stuff like that!). As for if a generic brand is better than a name brand, that is solely up to your preference. Try them both and see which one you like. Then you'll know.

Answer 6

For many medications including over the counter products like aspirin or hydrocortisone cream the generics are pretty good. When I use triple antibiotic ointment or antifungal creams I use the generic brand (usually a store brand not a name brand). I get my antifungal cream over at Wal-Mart and it works pretty well.

But there are times with some medications like anti-seizure medications (another example that applies to some people) the generics although cheaper don't do a good job at controlling the problem. Oral antibiotics are also often like this.

Answer 7

yes the store brand is just as good as the name brand. it has to go thru the excact same FDA test and guidelines as the name brand does. and a lot of the time its made in the same plant as the brand name is. working at CVS we are told to push store brand. its just as good, works the same, has the same excact ingredients and normally cost 2-4 dollars less than the brand name..

and if you refer to RX only drugs. the generic is as well just as good as the brand name. sure it might look different or smell or taste the same.
just b/c name brand lortab is speckled it doesnt work any better than the generic tablets.
that is all in peoples heads

Answer 8

Actually, we just don't know.

Everyone here is correct in their assertion that the ACTIVE ingredients are usually identical, however, we have know way of knowing if they were produced in the same identical manner, just that they were all produced to the minimum FDA requirements.

Inactive ingredients may be benign as far as toxicity, but how they affect the delivery of the active ingredient can vary (or do nothing at all).

Point is, there is very little, if any peer-reviewed studies available to the public as to whether the "Equate" version of Motrin is just as effective clinically as Motrin itself.

I'm doubtful, I'd trust a non-peer reviewed study produced by the manufacturer of the generic as evidence. There's too much conflict of interest.

Answer 9

They are exactly the same thing! Read the drug labels on the box. Each drug label will have the active ingredient listed. You'll see that they're the same. Example: Tylenol's active ingredient is Acetominophen. If you look at a store brand version that compares to Tylenol, the active ingredient will always read Acetominophen.

Answer 10

Sure anything to avoid the high price of the name brands - I just check the ingredients to make sure they really contain the same stuff that the name brands do. And if I have any questions, I just ask my friendly pharmacist - they're very nice and helpful when it comes to that type of information.