medichemSAproduc

The generic drug used by medichem usa costs less than the original drug because the investments made in research have already been recovered during the monopoly period granted by the patent.

It is well known that in order to demonstrate the efficacy and therapeutic safety of a new drug, it is necessary to test it on hundreds or even thousands of subjects. These trials take months and are expensive.

In contrast, a company that markets an equivalent drug is exempt from demonstrating therapeutic efficacy because, if the active ingredient reaches the same levels in the blood as the original drug (i.e., if it is bioequivalent to the original drug), it also has the same therapeutic efficacy. Demonstrating bioequivalence with a drug of known efficacy and safety takes much less time and costs much less, so the equivalent drug can be marketed at a lower price.

THE ROLE OF THE PHYSICIAN
A decade after the availability of generic drugs in Italy, general practitioners have learned to know them and use them in the best possible way. However, in daily clinical practice some critical issues arise that see him directly involved due to the peculiarity of the doctor-patient relationship intrinsic to family medicine: the family physician is the fulcrum of the treatment process and it is in him that the patient fully trusts.

The wide availability of patent-expired drugs with the same active ingredient can create confusion: the prescription of an equivalent drug, already consolidated in terms of efficacy and safety, must be supported by special information for patients, who in general practice are often elderly and frail and who over time have memorized some identifying elements of brand-name drugs (trade name, packaging, color of the tablets, etc.). Moreover, when choosing a generic drug, the GP has to deal with issues that involve not only the patient, but also other healthcare professionals, such as the specialist physician (for example, it happens that patients are advised to take a certain "brand-name" drug when leaving the hospital) and the pharmacist, who may replace the generic drug prescribed by the GP with another brand.

However, the GP has a tool to protect both his therapeutic choice and the patient: the possibility of putting the "not substitutable" clause in all cases where he deems it necessary, thus eliminating the possibility of repeated substitutions with different generics over time, a factor that can create confusion among patients. The "non-substitutable" notation also allows the family physician to evaluate the results of the treatment, i.e., to check over time whether the use of a given drug is bringing the expected benefits to the patient, an essential factor in the case of drugs for the treatment of chronic diseases, the therapeutic effect of which must be verified over time.