LOOKING FOR CHEAPER MEDICINES

LOOKING FOR CHEAPER MEDICINES

Dear Mr. President, according to Microsoft Copilot, a generic medicine “is a medication that has the same active ingredients, strength, dosage form, and route of administration as a brand-name drug. It is considered bioequivalent to the brand-name drug, meaning it works in the same way and provides the same clinical benefit. Generic medicines are typically sold at a lower price than their brand-name counterparts, making them more accessible and affordable for consumers”.

In theory therefore, a generic medicine product is practically the same as a branded medicine product, except that it does not have a brand. More often that not however, a generic medicine product carries the name of the manufacturer. That being the case, it is generally implied that if the manufacturer is trustworthy and reputable, then the product should be acceptable. Often however, many consumers only know the brand names of medicine products and not the names of their manufacturers.

If only most of the consumers would know the good reputations of the generic medicine manufacturers, then they would not hesitate to buy them instead of the but since they do not, they keep on buying the branded medicines, and there the problem lies. There should be no problem really if they could afford to pay for the branded medicines but if they could not, then it becomes a big drain on their household budgets. That said, what should we do Mr. President?

Although it might sound like an oxymoron, there is such a thing as a “branded generic”, as it is referred to by some doctors and patients alike. These are the generic medicine products that have been found to be effective by many doctors and patients over the years, even if up to now these are still unbranded, so to speak. Although it may either be either unethical or illegal for the DOH to endorse these so-called “branded generic” medicines, would it be possible Mr. President to come up with a whitelist or a consumer guide of some kind?

As far as I know Sir, there are many sources of free medicines such as the LGUs, the DOH, the PCSO and even some Senators and Congressmen. The problem is Sir, most of the needy and indigent people would not know where to get these medicines, and how to apply for them. Some of these sources might even publish the available medicines in their websites, but the problem is, many of the needy and indigent people do not have internet access either. Perhaps one of the government agencies could come up with a solution to this problem, Mr. President?

I do not exactly know how to go about it Sir, but I think that if the government could assist the cooperatives in the buying and selling of both generic and branded medicine products, then it could possibly bring down the prices, at least for the coop members, aside from the fact that the members could earn dividends and rebates also. Aside from that, the problem of trusting the generic products could lessen because the members could complain to their own coop if the products are not effective. Respectfully yours, IKE SENERES/11-30-24/visit my blog senseneres.blogspot.com