February 18, 2015 Everyday Medicine Wellness

Brand Name, Generic, Compounded or Refilled: A Prescription Primer

text image of a prescription with "Refills: 5" circled in red

Brand Name, Generic, Compounded or Refilled: A Prescription Primer

Confusion about prescriptions reigned in my clinic this past week. I spent a lot of time explaining the intricacies of brand name versus generic drugs. There was a lot of confusion about refills as well. So, I am reprising a condensed version of my discussions about drugs for the benefit of all.

Brand name drugs are the easiest to recognize because the label on the box has ® or possibly™ after a bold-faced drug name like Benadryl® or Motrin®. Drugs recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cannot be made as generic drugs until the patent or exclusivity expires. The FDA approves everything surrounding the manufacture, quality control and packaging of brand name drugs. This process assures the consumer the product is both safe and efficacious. Drugs for animals are approved by the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine.

The box, carton or tube of generic drug appears more utilitarian than the brand name drug, but the medication inside is a copy of the brand name drug, which is the same as the brand name drug in dosage form, safety, strength, route of administration, quality, performance characteristics and intended use. Generic drugs meet the same rigid standards as the brand name drug. All generic drugs approved by FDA have the same high quality, strength, purity and shelf life as brand name drugs. The generic drug manufacturing, packaging and testing must pass the same quality standards as those of brand name drugs.

Specialist veterinarians like those of us at The Animal Medical Center use compounded medications every day to provide drugs in formulations our patients will agree to take. Most commonly, we have medications flavored with beef and turkey or have bad tasting powdered medications put in gelatin capsules to hide their nasty taste. But compounded medications should not be confused with generic medications. Compounded medicines do not have the FDA assurance of safety and efficacy because they do not undergo FDA-mandated quality control testing. In most cases, the absorption properties and the shelf life of compounded medications are unstudied and may differ from brand name or generic medications. Because different compounding pharmacies use different “recipes” to create your pet’s specialized medication, the same prescription may not have the same effect when compounded by a different pharmacist. While the lack of FDA oversight may be a negative, if compounding helps you to get your pet to take its medications, compounding becomes positive.

When I call or fax a prescription to a pharmacy for a medication that a dog or cat will take for a long time, I will pre-authorize refills. The number of refills remaining on a prescription is indicated on the label of the medication bottle. In the sample label shown here, the red circle highlights the number of refills available without the need to call your veterinarian. You simply call the pharmacy and ask for one of the refills. The next prescription label will indicate only 4 available refills. I often choose the number of refills to coincide with an anticipated recheck examination since you need to call my office to get more refills, you can also set up the recheck appointment at the same time.

Understanding medications is critical to their successful use. The FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine has a wealth of information on their website for the pet owing public.

Tags: animal medical center, animals, ann hohenhaus, cat, dogs, drugs, exotic, FDA, generic, lizard, medicine, NYC, pet health, pets, prescriptions, rabbit, refills, reptile, veterinarian, veterinary,

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