On 2007-05-20 21:24:55 +0100, (Peter Ashby) said:


I am not underestimating it. You seem to be assuming that all prescribed
drugs are so prescribed because of pressure from big Pharma. That is an
extremely biased position that does not reflect reality. It also ignores
the increasing role of NICE to do the intellectual legwork in assessing
drugs.

NICE does produce some reasonable work. Unfortunately, the PCTs then
proceed to ignore it if they can find a cheaper solution than that
recommended.

Nothing wrong with generics. Why people pay well over the odds for
neurofen when plain pack versions are much cheaper and exactly the same.


There are generics and generics I was specifically talking about
substitutions among classes of drug as opposed to direct equivalents.

I agree with you that it makes good sense to use generics where the
original drug is off patent.

However, it is rather diffferent when substitutions are made for less
effective generics that are off patent. For example, Pfizer has a
patent on atorvastatin (brand name Lipitor) until 2011 in most
countries. It is known to be more effective than off patent statins,
but of course is more expensive.