Part 8: Mind your Medicines market – What to buy? Generic or Branded? A money saver.

 

After several years, when the cost of the medicines started pinching my pocket, I held discussions with my friends. Oh! We were all birds of the same feather.

 

I started looking for generic medicines suggested by my friends. I ventured to understand the intricacies of the parallel medicines and their cost.

 

 

It was the name of the medicine. For example Paracetamol or Calpol or Panadol. The first one is generic and the other two are branded. The medicinal effect is the same, but the cost varies.

 

Doctor’s choice and hospital reputation also make a big difference in cost.

 

After discussing with our family physician, I took a decision. Now, happily, I’m saving my precious money.

 

Has efficiency of the medicine anything to do with the cost, was a matter of serious debate? 

 

Pharmaceutical companies are of two types; Innovator – a company that invests heavily in innovation or in the discovery of new medicine. Any new drug that comes to market, takes 10 – 15 years of intense research and billions of dollars of investments and of course, it comes with a patent. Innovator Company sells a product in the market as a branded product. As it is one of its kind, so it is expensive. Once the patent is expired, there are generic companies across the globe, copy that medicinal molecule and launch generic copy of that medicine with their own name and obviously, they have not to spend money on innovation so their copy is cheaper. Most of the Indian pharmaceutical companies are generic companies.

 

Generic medicines

 

All medicines have a basic/original (ingredient) name called generic. In fact, the doctors are advised to write the generic names always in the prescriptions.

Generic medicines are manufactured based on many factors.

Medicines for which patent period is over.

 

The company holding the license to manufacture authorizes another company on a collaborative basis. This is done for reasons like demand and supply, licensing rules and regulations prevailing in different locations.

The prime company is no more interested in bulk manufacture.

 

As the medicines are manufactured either royalty-free or with a minimum royalty, the cost of the medicine becomes less.

 

Procuring a license is also easy and cost-effective as the generic medicines are already approved by the controlling agencies.

 

Earlier, only a few countries were selling these generic medicines. But today, even the advanced countries have a higher percentage of sales.

 

The demand for generic medicines is increasing.

 

As the generic medicine manufacturers have to adhere to the same norms and specifications, the quality and effectiveness remain the same.

 

The cost is nearly reduced to one fourth.

 

Branded medicines

 

Innovator pharmaceutical company spends an enormous amount of money to get medicine into the market. Such as

Research and Development

Clinical trials

Patenting

Royalty

Procuring License

Clearances

Manufacturing process

Logistics

Advertisement, to mention a few.

 

Naturally, the expense escalates. The cost of the innovator medicines will be much more than generic medicines.

 

Each company gives a brand name for the medicine based on many market factors.

Usually, there will be a link with the generic name of the medicine.

As far as composition is concerned, the active ingredient is the same and the inactive ingredients may be different.

 

But remember, many innovative medicines may not be available in generic form.

 

Our family doctor as well as others who are known to me had no reservation whatsoever about generic medicines.

They, however, followed professional ethics.

“If you can afford, purchase branded. Else, generic”. They convinced that medicinal effectiveness is the same.

 

After exploring the facts, I Switched to Generic. Earlier the expenditure on our medicines was nearly 2K per month. For three years, it has reduced to 0.5K per month. An enormous saving indeed for a pensioner. I’m happy and healthy.

 

The ball is in your court. The decision of what to buy is completely yours. I’m under no contract with either Branded or Generic medicine manufacturers. In fact, many branded factories produce and market generic medicines.

Before jumping on my wagon, get your doctor's permission. Happy saving.

MIND, YOUR MEDICINES PART 6 HERBAL MEDICINES

 

 Part 6….”Ayurveda, Homeopathy and Unani medicine making”

Continuing on, the way medicines are prepared, one can throw light on other types of medicines also.

Most of the herbal medicines were earlier, localized. In fact, they were prepared in situ as and when required. No specifications of ingredients were mentioned. Side effects were not known in detail. This probably made it less known all over the world. However, today the story is different. Herbal medicines are delocalised and are available on shelves with specifications. 

Ayurveda medicines

The medicines are prepared depending on the condition of the patient and the expected therapeutic effect. Generally, the ingredients are from nature. Care is taken so that the materials are safe. A part of a herb is selected with the end effect in mind. The raw materials are obtained from a specially maintained garden called “Dhanavantari Vana” or forests. A few examples are:

Representative raw materials:

Roots like turmeric and ginger.

Leaves of coriander and Aloe Vera.

Fruits like black pepper and gooseberry.

Barks of Ashoka and neem tree.

Seeds of cardamom and coriander and so on.

Attributions

Selections are done based on healing power like:

Appetizer                                           Cardamom and coriander

Indigestion                                        Basil, Ginger and Chrysanthemum

Tissues healing                                Jasmine and Cinnamon

Antibiotic (Viral infections)            Turmeric

Antiseptic (Infection protection)  Aloe Vera and Sandalwood

There is much more. The above are only representative.

A glimpse of methodology

A few simple methods of preparation are based on the concept of Pancha Kashaya Kalpa.

Extraction of the key juice from the plant by grinding or pounding.

The herbs are crushed, mixed with water to make pulps.

Boiling herbs in water and concentrating.

Immersion of herbs in hot water for the required length of time till infusion occurs.

Soaking the herbs in cold water overnight for cold infusion.

 

Homoeopathy

Based on a correlation table of symptoms and illness, materials available in nature like herbs and minerals are selected. They are diluted to the maximum extent possible till the solute and solvent are indistinguishable. To support amalgamation, the solution is shaken or the vessel is tapped on a soft material in between. A paste is prepared with either sugar (lactose) or salt (sodium salt) as the base. They are given as powders, pills or tablets. The criteria is “A disease is cured by the disease”.

Sometimes bush snake venoms are also used in formulations.

Unani

Here depending upon the type of ailment, pharmacological formulations are prepared.

Mufradat is a single drug formulation.

Murakkabat is a combination of drugs and is a compound formulation.

Herbs, minerals and if needed other natural sources are used. Medicines are processed by classical methods.

Ayurveda, Homeopathy, and Unani

All three utilise the naturally available materials in the surroundings.

Both Unani and Ayurveda in principle consider the elements present in the human body. The wellness of a person depends on the balance of these elements. Illness, if they are in imbalance. Both approaches are also very particular about the diet regimens. Homoeopathy also puts dietary restrictions.

Having presented a trailer of the methodology of the birth and death of medicines, it is interesting to know that, medicines are obtained by accidents also. Penicillin, the most sought after, is a classic example.

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