Pharpist,do not how to spell. Seem to know more than the dr.s nancy
____________
From: Bruce M <bruce903@hotmail.
To: epilepsy@yahoogroup
Sent: Thursday, June 4, 2009 3:57:08 PM
Subject: [epilepsy] Re: Bioavailability
That is correct, Pat, I am not a pharmacist. And apparently, neither are
you. My "assumptions and speculations about Pharmacists" , along
with my "remarks about Pharmacists switching from one generic
company to another" are based on the notes I took from what I had
recorded while attending a Seizure and Epilepsy Program presentations.
And with the speaker being a neuropsychologist, who brought this to
everyone's attention who attended, plus the information that's
being discussed in numerous articles and individual stories concerning
people with epilepsy, apparently there is a difference between `name
brand antiepileptic medications' and `generic antiepileptic
medications' .
I agree that most consumers are adept at pursuing their prescriptions
prior to submitting them, as well as consumers checking their pill
bottles before they exit the store to ensure that they paid for the
correct product. I also agree and continuously understand that meds are
approved by the high standards of the FDA, along with my understanding
that most major insurance companies will only pay for generics.
Congratulations on your Dad being a Pharmacist for over 45 years.
However, with everything you said in your reply, nothing answers the
question "Is there a difference within the bioavailability of the
name brand antiepileptic medications and the generic antiepileptic
medications, even if the generics have the same name but are
manufactured by different pharmaceutical suppliers?"
Here's some more information that was mentioned during the same
Seizure and Epilepsy Program presentations. The chemical that does the
work in the name brand antiepileptic medications and the matching
generic antiepileptic medications, are the same drugs. For example, the
chemical in Tegretol that does the work is called carbamazepine. In the
generic Tegretol, the chemical that does the work is carbamazepine. Do
you hear any difference in the chemical that's used for either of
these drugs? No. In Depakote, the chemical that does the work is sodium
valproic. In generic Depakote the chemical that does the work is sodium
valproic. Do you hear any difference in the chemical that's used for
either of these drugs? No. In Dilantin, the chemical does the work is
Phenytoin. In generic Dilantin the chemical that does the work is
Phenytoin. Do you hear any difference in the chemical that's used
for either of these drugs? No. There is absolutely no difference with
the name of the chemical that does the work, in either the name brand or
the generic brand antiepileptic medication. So the person's body is
getting the same chemical.
Now let me use another example, and this is going to be one I've
thought of myself, concerning `Chocolate Cakes'. Let's say a
person goes to a grocery store and sees a variety of Chocolate Cake
mixes. For starters, those chocolate cake mixes would not be on the
store shelves unless they had been approved by the Health Department.
Out of all of the chocolate cake mixes, several have been manufactured
by different name brand companies, and there are a few other chocolate
cake mixes that were manufactured by separate generic companies. The
prices for the name brand chocolate cake mixes are most likely going to
cost a bit more than the generics. However, for each of those individual
chocolate cake mixes, each one will most likely contain the same
ingredients of flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and possibly some salt.
Some of the ingredients that might need to be added could be eggs,
butter or margarine, milk, oil, and or water. If we follow the
instructions in order to make each chocolate cake separately, and then
complete the baking process, a few of the chocolate cakes might appear
to be similar to one another, but a few other chocolate cakes might look
a bit different. Either way, no matter how you look at the cakes,
they're all still going to be called chocolate cakes.
Now, what do you suppose the likelihood is going to be for each of those
individual chocolate cake mixes containing the exact same amount of
flour, the exact same amount of sugar, the exact same amount of cocoa,
and the exact same amount of baking soda? Highly unlikely. A couple of
the chocolate cake mixes might contain the exact same amount of one or
more certain ingredients. But I seriously doubt that every one of those
chocolate cakes mixes are going to have the exact same amount of
matching ingredients.
All of the individual chocolate cakes might look the same just by
looking at them, and the FDA and certain insurance companies may add
icing to the cake simply because they either don't understand,
don't care, and or really don't want to get too involved; What
matters most, is what's inside. What did it take, and exactly how
much of that did it take, in order to make each one of those individual
chocolate cakes? Then the next important question could be, for everyone
who reads this reply, do you suppose everyone would be able to handle a
same sized individual slice of every one of those chocolate cakes,
without having any problems? My guess is that most people might be able
to do this without having any problems, but there may also be just a few
people who might experience some type of allergic reaction and/or side
effect they cannot withstand.
Prior to creating this reply, I came across an article that was recently
placed online, and after I read over the article, there were several
lines that stood out. The first was, "...in the case of many
neurological disorders, especially epilepsy, switching from a brand name
to a generic or between generics can be extremely dangerous";
"...variants can mean the difference between a normal, seizure free
life and dealing with the risk of breakthrough seizure's, brain
damage and even death."; and lastly, "No cost is too great when
it comes to your health." That article is titled, `In the Case
of Epilepsy, Generic Drugs and Random Product Substitution are Not
Always "Good Medicine"', and it's currently at,
http://www.engelpub .com/News/ Index.cfm? articleid= 629553
<http://www.engelpub .com/News/ Index.cfm? articleid= 629553> #
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