E-DRUG: Generic drugs versus brand names

[Mark Campbell <Mark.Campbell@newcastle.ac.uk>]

E-drug: Generic drugs versus brand names
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> February 4, 1998 WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Food and Drug Administration
> has bad news for drug companies trying to fend off cheaper 
> competition: Generic drugs are just as good as the brand names. 
> A letter faxed last week to doctor organizations and every state
> board of pharmacy signals the FDA's frustration with a fierce battle
> between the $500-million-a-year blood thinner Coumadin and its
> new generic competitor. 

Interesting. The rate of generic prescribing of anticoagulants in my 
region of the UK (NorthEast England) exceeds 95% with no reports of 
therapeutic failure due to inequivalence.

Mark Campbell
Regional Drug and Therapeutics Centre
Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Mark.Campbell@newcastle.ac.uk
 
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