Archive for May, 2010

Every time I pick up my medication, I see that there is a generic name but the pharmacist says there is no generic available. Why? And how do I know if the medication I’m taking is available in generic?

Every expensive brand name drug has a generic name, but the generic isn’t always available. This is because the patent hasn’t run out on the expensive yet. The manufacturer gives the chemical that it holds the patent on, a name, this is the brand name, the chemical is the generic name. The Food and Drug Administration gives a certain time period, usually 17 years, for the manufacturer to recoup the money in research and to make a profit for their chemical. After the patent runs out, any drug manufacturer who can product the exact replica, can manufacture the drug. Usually, it takes about ten year from discovery to market, giving the manufacturer about seven years to turn a profit.

Generic drugs are just as good as the expensive brand product. Read the rest of this entry »

Uggg, a little too much last night junior? You’re not as young as you used to be. Or, you’re still too young to realize that one day you will not be as young as you used to be. Wait, I have to read that sentence again.

So, you’ve had a bit too much to drink last night and your head is throbbing, your stomach is a little queasy, the lights are much brighter today for some reason, dry mouth, and you’re balancing an anvil on top of your head. Before grabbing whatever home remedy your old college buddy swears by, let’s look at what’s going on here.

In our body, we have diuretic hormone and anti-diuretic hormone. These two work together to keep the water content in our body at the right level. Alcohol blocks anti-diuretic hormone, so diuretic hormone becomes dominant, and you are running to the bathroom every few minutes. The next morning, you are dehydrated. You need to replace all that fluid you lost last night. Sip water or a sports drink, eat lots of fruits like oranges or watermelon, and suck on some ice cubes to replace that fluid. Read the rest of this entry »

In general, most doctors don’t really know how much medication costs. They have an idea but this is not their area of expertise.

Doctors are taught and are obligated to prescribe to you, in their opinion, the BEST medication for your condition. Since they are bombarded with representatives from various drug companies, their opinions sometimes get…well…altered.

The companies that produce the inexpensive generic medications do not send their representatives to the doctors’ offices. They are busy competing with all the other manufacturers making the exact same generic. The big drug companies are sending representatives out to promote their expensive medication. If they can get doctors to prescribe their drug, the profits come in month after month after month.

That is until you learn that there is most likely a generic or alternate drug you can use to stop sending your money to them and start keeping it for yourself. Read the rest of this entry »