Generic heart drugs are just as good

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Generic drugs for the treatment of heart disease are as effective as their brand-name counterparts, according to a study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Assn.

The study was aimed at addressing the common perception that generic versions of such drugs as beta-blockers, diuretics, calcium-channel blockers, antiplatelet agents, statins, ACE inhibitors and alpha-blockers are somehow different than brand-name drugs. Generic drugs are often much cheaper and insurers sometimes pay only for generic brands. Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital examined 47 studies on the effectiveness of various cardiovascular medications. The majority of the studies found generic and brand-name drugs are equivalent. The researchers also looked at editorials and opinion pieces on the issue of brand-name-versus-generic and found more than half expressed a negative view of the interchangeability of the drugs.

Why would doctors prescribe expensive brand-name drugs when the evidence doesn’t warrant it? One possibility, the authors of the paper say, is that financial relationships with brand-name pharmaceutical companies influence their opinions and prescribing practices.

For more information about the bioequivalency of generic versus brand-name drugs, see this article from Consumer Reports as well as free reports called CR’s Best Buy Drugs.

-- Shari Roan