Generic Heart Drugs Just As Effective As Brand Names
A new study finds that many generic heart drugs are just as effective as actual brand name drugs that they mimic.
The belief is typically that generic drugs, which are cheaper than brand names are subsequently not as effective when given to the patient, a fact that this study finds is not the case at all.
Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, analyzed up to 30 different heart studies to reach this conclusion.
They compared 9 sub-classes of heart drugs, both brand name and generic.
They wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association, that brand name drugs offered no clinical advantage to heart patients than their cheaper generic counterparts.
“If a patient is prescribed a generic drug because that’s what’s appropriate for their condition, then they should feel confident taking that drug. And physicians themselves should also feel confident prescribing generic drugs where appropriate,” said leader of the study, Dr. Aaron Kesselheim.
