Here is a copy of the reply I posted on a yahoo support group for epilepsy, which I wanted to share with everyone.
That is correct, Pat, I am not a pharmacist. And apparently, neither are you. My “assumptions and speculations about Pharmacists”, along with my “remarks about Pharmacists switching from one generic company to another” are based on the notes I took from what I had recorded while attending a Seizure and Epilepsy Program presentations. And with the speaker being a neuropsychologist, who brought this to everyone’s attention who attended, plus the information that’s being discussed in numerous articles and individual stories concerning people with epilepsy, apparently there is a difference between ‘name brand antiepileptic medications’ and ‘generic antiepileptic medications’.
I agree that most consumers are adept at pursuing their prescriptions prior to submitting them, as well as consumers checking their pill bottles before they exit the store to ensure that they paid for the correct product. I also agree and continuously understand that meds are approved by the high standards of the FDA, along with my understanding that most major insurance companies will only pay for generics. Congratulations on your Dad being a Pharmacist for over 45 years. However, with everything you said in your reply, nothing answers the question “Is there a difference within the bioavailability of the name brand antiepileptic medications and the generic antiepileptic medications, even if the generics have the same name but are manufactured by different pharmaceutical suppliers?”
Here’s some more information that was mentioned during the same Seizure and Epilepsy Program presentations. The chemical that does the work in the name brand antiepileptic medications and the matching generic antiepileptic medications, are the same drugs. For example, the chemical in Tegretol that does the work is called carbamazepine. In the generic Tegretol, the chemical that does the work is carbamazepine. Do you hear any difference in the chemical that’s used for either of these drugs? No. In Depakote, the chemical that does the work is sodium valproic. In generic Depakote the chemical that does the work is sodium valproic. Do you hear any difference in the chemical that’s used for either of these drugs? No. In Dilantin, the chemical does the work is Phenytoin. In generic Dilantin the chemical that does the work is Phenytoin. Do you hear any difference in the chemical that’s used for either of these drugs? No. There is absolutely no difference with the name of the chemical that does the work, in either the name brand or the generic brand antiepileptic medication. So the person’s body is getting the same chemical.
Now let me use another example, and this is going to be one I’ve thought of myself, concerning ‘Chocolate Cakes’. Let’s say a person goes to a grocery store and sees a variety of Chocolate Cake mixes. For starters, those chocolate cake mixes would not be on the store shelves unless they had been approved by the Health Department. Out of all of the chocolate cake mixes, several have been manufactured by different name brand companies, and there are a few other chocolate cake mixes that were manufactured by separate generic companies. The prices for the name brand chocolate cake mixes are most likely going to cost a bit more than the generics. However, for each of those individual chocolate cake mixes, each one will most likely contain the same ingredients of flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and possibly some salt. Some of the ingredients that might need to be added could be eggs, butter or margarine, milk, oil, and or water. If we follow the instructions in order to make each chocolate cake separately, and then complete the baking process, a few of the chocolate cakes might appear to be similar to one another, but a few other chocolate cakes might look a bit different. Either way, no matter how you look at the cakes, they’re all still going to be called chocolate cakes.
Now, what do you suppose the likelihood is going to be for each of those individual chocolate cake mixes containing the exact same amount of flour, the exact same amount of sugar, the exact same amount of cocoa, and the exact same amount of baking soda? Highly unlikely. A couple of the chocolate cake mixes might contain the exact same amount of one or more certain ingredients. But I seriously doubt that every one of those chocolate cakes mixes are going to have the exact same amount of matching ingredients.
All of the individual chocolate cakes might look the same just by looking at them, and the FDA and certain insurance companies may add icing to the cake simply because they either don’t understand, don’t care, and or really don’t want to get too involved; What matters most, is what’s inside. What did it take, and exactly how much of that did it take, in order to make each one of those individual chocolate cakes? Then the next important question could be, for everyone who reads this reply, do you suppose everyone would be able to handle a same sized individual slice of every one of those chocolate cakes, without having any problems? My guess is that most people might be able to do this without having any problems, but there may also be just a few people who might experience some type of allergic reaction and/or side effect they cannot withstand.
Prior to creating this reply, I came across an article that was recently placed online, and after I read over the article, there were several lines that stood out. The first was, “...in the case of many neurological disorders, especially epilepsy, switching from a brand name to a generic or between generics can be extremely dangerous”; “...variants can mean the difference between a normal, seizure free life and dealing with the risk of breakthrough seizure’s, brain damage and even death.”; and lastly, “No cost is too great when it comes to your health.” That article is titled, ‘In the Case of Epilepsy, Generic Drugs and Random Product Substitution are Not Always “Good Medicine”’, and it's currently at,
http://www.engelpub.com/News/Index.cfm?articleid=629553#