[Generic drug substitution].
The rapidly rising health care expenditures, attributed mainly to the high cost of prescription drugs, have led governments around the world to look to generics as a means of containing costs in the pharmaceutical market. Generic drugs provide a less expensive alternative to brand name drugs due to the elimination of the need to perform lengthy and costly clinical trials, as required for innovative drugs. Essentially, generic substitution of drugs may be performed only after showing unequivocally that the generic formulation is identical in its active ingredients, strength, and route of administration as its innovative counterpart, and that they are bioequivalent to each other. Although the two are in essence the same, generic substitution is occasionally a controversial matter.
Tamir
Orly
O
The Israeli Center for Technology Assessment in Health Care, The Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research. orlyt@gertner.health.gov.il
Halkin
Hillel
H
Shemer
Joshua
J
D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000191:economics; D016568:Drugs, Generic / Q000191:economics; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D006801:Humans; D013810:Therapeutic Equivalency
D016568:Drugs, Generic