Generic drugs and Branded drugs are essentially the same, as they both have the same active ingredient.
Generic drugs can provide the same therapeutic advantages as branded drugs at a reduced cost, as they do not have to undergo extensive clinical trials necessary for branded medications. Hence, generic medications are often promoted as a viable solution to control costs within healthcare systems (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Comparative effectiveness of generic and brand-name medication use: A database study of US health insurance claims

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).

Why A Reluctance To Use Generic Products!

Although generics are increasing in popularity, they have not yet achieved widespread use, the foremost reasons for which are concerns like product quality, reluctance by physicians to prescribe generics, and unwillingness of patients to switch to generics.

Further, the topic of patients choosing between branded and generic alternatives in healthcare has been an ongoing debate, and hence, there is a lack of agreement among healthcare professionals.

While some healthcare professionals emphasize that generic drugs are chemically equivalent and provide the same therapeutic benefits as their branded counterparts, others counter-argue that there could be variations in quality, manufacturing processes, or inactive ingredients that could impact their efficacy. Hence, they are reluctant to prescribe generics.

On the other side, the patients too are unwilling to switch to generics, as they have doubts about the quality and efficacy, and would rather use the known branded products.

Dynamics Involved in the Debate of Branded vs Generics

The lack of clarity among healthcare providers compelled GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, to generate data from various perspectives. They used a qualitative research methodology, described by them as “Thematic Intelligence”.

The survey conducted by GlobalData involved 295 healthcare industry professionals from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, and Japan. It was conducted between January and March 2024.

Data Generated by Intelligence Report

The main findings of the Intelligence report included the following:

1. 
   The United States, Italy, and Japan together represented about 60% of healthcare providers who believed that patients should be able to select between branded or generic medications, while the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Germany had the lowest average at about 40%.
2. 
   The doctors in the US were prescribing more generic drugs as compared to doctors in Japan and five major European markets (Germany, Italy, France, the UK, and Spain).

The Associate Project Manager in the Pharma section at GlobalData, Shiva Narayan, said, “The lack of a strong opinion among physicians regarding patients’ choice between branded and generic drugs suggests various factors at play influencing physicians’ perspectives, such as efficacy, patient preferences, and cost-effectiveness.”

It is imperative to encourage communication between patients and healthcare providers. The doctors must discuss the benefits and potential drawbacks of both branded and generic products with the patients.

Narayana concluded by saying: “Overall, promoting shared decision-making, enhancing physician education, and aligning healthcare policies with evidence-based practices can help address the lack of strong opinions among physicians regarding patient choice in medication selection. By doing so, patient outcomes can be optimized while ensuring healthcare affordability and accessibility.”

How to Overcome the Speculations over Generics!

To increase the use of generics, the following steps need to be taken:

1. 
   Briefing by healthcare providers to patients on benefits and potential drawbacks.
2. 
   Educating patients about the thorough chemical testing that is conducted on these products, and also briefing them on the regulatory processes, to give them the assurance on quality and safety of generic products.
3. 
   The regulatory agencies should introduce guidelines for using branded and generic alternatives.

These recommendations would help educate the masses and bring about uniformity in the practices of prescribing generics, as against branded products.

Reference:

1. Comparative effectiveness of generic and brand-name medication use: A database study of US health insurance claims- (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6415809/)

Source-Medindia