Generic Drugs: The Money We Waste by Ignoring Them

We're among the last in Europe to make this type of purchase. Distrust, a lack of knowledge about the equivalence between the two types of medicines, and some of the blame lies with doctors and pharmacists.

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I use generic drugs in Italy
They are identical in efficacy, active ingredients, and therapeutic qualities. Generic drugs, however, are less effective than those branded with the pharmaceutical company's name. they cost less, and therefore ignoring or underestimating them, as we do in Italy, is simply a waste of money.
Expenditure on medicines in Italy is equal to 36,2 billion per year, of which 68,7 percent are reimbursed by the National Health Service, while private spending by citizens amounts to 1 billion 400 million euros per year.
 Italians spend around a trillion a year to buy designer medicines, and according to the OsMed Report of the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA),  the expense for the drugs Generics in Italy represent 22,7% of the total market in terms of packaging and 15,5% in terms of value.

What are generic drugs?

Un drug no logoLet's be clear once and for all: it has the same active ingredients and the same characteristics as a brand-name drug. It produces the same effects on the patient, and has received the same authorization from the Italian Medicines Agency as required for brand-name drugs. So... Where's the difference? In the price: simply it costs lessYet in Italy, where we are constantly struggling to contain healthcare spending and avoid cutting essential services, we consume less generic drugs than almost all European countries (we are third to last in this ranking of healthcare purchases). The European average for generic drug consumption is 51%, more than double the percentage recorded in Italy, with countries like Great Britain having a share of over 60 percent, while in nations like Germany and France, generic drug prescriptions represent the vast majority of prescriptions signed by doctors and then presented to the public. pharmacy.
There are also significant regional differences: In some regions of Southern Italy, the use of generics is less than 20%, while in Trentino-Alto Adige and Lombardy it exceeds 40%.

Why Italians buy so few generic drugs

Ma where waste arises, and in some cases the scam, the low use of generics?First of all there is the constant pressure of the pharmaceutical companies, ready to discourage any purchase that reduces their profit margins. Then there is the complicity of doctors, which should comply with a law introduced by the Monti government: the prescription must not indicate the commercial name of the drug but only the active ingredient contained therein, except when the medicine "is not substitutable." And behind this rather vague formula lies a prairie of excessive discretion on the part of doctors. Finally, the farmaciePharmacists only dispense medicines and therefore cannot replace doctors: but they could promote information campaigns to explain the advantages of generic medicines in terms of savings and safety. In short: everyone can do something to put an end to this European waste record that we have achieved with the binge of Medicines and with the low use of generics.

Italians' distrust of generic drugs

The waste of generic drugs, which are ignored and undervalued, also includes some mistakes we make, in good faith, as consumers. Specifically:
  • Distrust of the generic product: many Italian patients believe that generic drugs are less effective or of lower quality than better-known brands.
  • Brand loyalty: there is a strong attachment to historical trade names, often also transmitted by medical health insurance company or from the pharmacist.
  • Ineffective communication from generic drug manufacturers: while the big brands in the pharmaceutical sector spend a mountain of money on advertising and also on initiatives, sometimes opaque, to convince doctors and pharmacists to use their products, Generic drug manufacturers are not as effective in terms of communications and marketing. Perhaps they should update their approach to create targeted and compelling campaigns, with complete transparency, which ultimately always pays off, even in terms of market share.
  • If the citizen only pays the ticket If the drug is fully covered by the National Health Service, the generic version tends to be ignored. Another mistake: the money for the National Health Service, including medications, doesn't come from the sky, but from the taxes paid by all honest Italians.

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