Generic Drugs and Big Pharma

In a survey of commercially insured adults regarding their perceptions of generic drugs, Shrank and associates (2009: 546) reported that,

Insurers and policymakers encourage the use of generic drugs to reduce costs, but generics remain underused. We conducted a national survey of commercially insured adults to evaluate their perceptions about generic drugs...although 56 percent reported that Americans should use more generics, only 37.6 percent prefer to take generics.

The under-usage of generic medication is indeed an unfortunate finding because the wisest course of action for the average person in these difficult economic times is to purchase generic drugs rather than brand-name drugs. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature supporting this claim.

Several reasons support the notion that purchasing generic drugs is preferable to purchasing brand-name drugs. First, all

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Category: Medical - G