Generic or Brand medication?

Many people feel generic versions of prescription drugs are inferior for the same reasons that generic versions of their favorite shampoos or cereals are inferior. However, though they are called "generic," these prescription drugs are expected to meet the same standards required of the innovator or brand name product. The Food and Drug Administration is required to review and inspect the generic version of a drug just as they would with an "innovator" or brand name product.

If you're a regular user of Viagra, Meridia, Ultram, or any other popular prescription medications, you already know how expensive brand-name medications can be. Generic medications are the cheaper substitutes which contain the exact same drug and have the exact same therapeutic effect -- while placing a much smaller burden on your finances. Through internet pharmacies, you can get generic medications at even lower prices while at the same time saving yourself the hassle and possible embarrassment of a trip to the clinic.

How can you make sure you are receiving the product you ordered rather than a fake? And how can you be sure you have found the pharmacy offering it at the best price? This is where we come in - we have compiled a list of top internet pharmacies offering high-quality, FDA-approved generic medications, and compared the prices they charge for each drug.

As you probably already know, buying generic medications instead of brand-name ones leads to significant savings. Generic is usually at least 50% cheaper than brand, and sometimes as much as 70% cheaper.

Generics are chemically equivalent to brand. The chemical equivalence is vouched for by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which examines each new generic drug before it is allowed on the market. What makes a medication "generic", then? Only that it is manufactured by a different company from the one that first developed it. Since the original manufacturer owns the rights to the original brand name (such as "Viagra"), the generic drug is sold under its chemical name. For similar reasons, the generic drug is sometimes manufactured in pills of different color or shape. Inside, however, it is the exact same drug.

Generics' chemical equivalence to brand-name drugs means that they contain the same active ingredient, at the same strength (dose). Generics and brand will therefore have the exact same effect on your medical condition, as well as the exact same risk of side effects.

Generic medications are produced by equally highly-developed companies and in equally well-maintained facilities as brand. In fact, the same pharmaceutical companies that manufacture brand-name drugs often manufacture generic versions of other companies' brand drugs, or even of their own, at the same time.