What Brand-Name Drug Companies Don’t Want You to Know: How They Keep Generics Off the Market

Why Isn’t There a Generic Version of My Drug?

People often wonder why they can’t get a more affordable version of a brand-name drug. Here are reasons why.

1. Patents & Lawsuits

Most new medications are protected by a patent that prevents competition for the first 10 years or more. Generic drugs cannot be produced until that patent ends. Some brand-name drug companies try to prevent affordable generics from going on the market by filing lawsuits or paying the generic drug company not to introduce a less expensive version of a brand-name medication. These strategies prevent generic drugs from being available as an affordable alternative to the brandname drug. Call or e-mail your members of Congress today to tell them to stop drug companies from misusing patents and making payoffs that deprive you of the generics medications you need to keep your health care affordable!

2. Advertising

Brand-name drug makers spend billions of dollars on advertising new medications on TV, in magazines, and even in doctors’ offices. But there is almost no advertising for generic drugs. So many people, including some doctors, do not know that there may be a more affordable medication that is just as safe and effective as the brand-name drug. Ask your doctor if there is a more affordable generic drug that will treat your medical condition. Then see if you can get it for $4 at a pharmacy or store near you.

3. Copycat Drugs

Sometimes a supposedly “new and improved” brand-name drug is actually not much better, just a lot more expensive, than a generic drug. For example, when Prilosec, a drug for heartburn, was about to be available as a more affordable generic drug, the company began marketing a “new” drug, Nexium. Nexium works exactly the same way as Prilosec, and is no more effective. But it’s six times as expensive. Ask your doctor if there’s a less expensive generic drug for your condition.