THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: When it comes to medicines, a higher price tag doesn’t mean better quality.
In what could go a long way in cutting down medicine expenses—in some cases up to Rs 66,000 a year—a first-of-its-kind study has challenged the long-held belief among doctors and patients that generic drugs are inferior to branded medicines.
Conducted by the Mission for Ethics and Science in Health (MESH), a non-profit organisation, the crowd-funded research has found that generics are equally effective as their branded variants, despite being 5 to 14 times cheaper. The study compared 131 medicines across 22 therapeutic categories, including treatments for chronic illnesses requiring long-term medication. Drugs supplied through Jan Aushadhi stores and the Kerala Medical Services Corporation Ltd (KMSCL) passed rigorous quality tests.
“The most important finding is that quality is not linked to price. A tablet priced at Rs 1 performed just as well in lab tests as the one that costs Rs 10. This disproves the myth that cheaper means worse,” said Dr Cyriac Abby Philips, clinician-scientist and president of MESH.
“Our study shows the overall quality of drugs is good. More importantly, it eliminates fear about generics. Patients who cannot afford branded medicines can safely opt for branded generics or free drugs provided by the Kerala government,” he said.
Take for instance Metformin, a widely-used drug for diabetes the KMSCL provides for free. At Jan Aushadhi, a strip (10 tablets) costs Rs 6.60, while the branded versions are sold for Rs 21.20 in privately-run pharmacies. In some cases, such as calcium supplements or acid reducers, patients end up paying nearly 14 times more for branded names, the study says.
This story is reported by Unnikrishnan S of The New Indian Express.
