Toprol Xl (brand) And Motoprolol Xl (generic) Are Not Equivalent
After numerous complaints being filed to the FDA regarding the side effects of the "supposed" new generic forms of TOPROL XL. Numerous testing labs have confirmed that the generic is not the same as the brand TOPROL XL. PeoplesPharmacy and ConsumerLabs have confirmed this in bioequivalence studies. Insist on the brand TOPROL XL from Astra Zeneca. People have complained of dramatic increases in heart rate and blood pressure, dizzines, hives and headaches etc. while on the generic substitute. 3 Pharmaceutical companies were cited for inferior pills. This confirms the numerous reports of side effects popping up over the past year....
Re: Toprol Xl (brand) And Motoprolol Xl (generic) Are Not Equivalent
ACE,
thank you for the warning. It pays to be careful these days. The name of the drug doesn't matter much. We must watch for drug alerts and recalls. One can make arrangements to be notified each time the government issues a warning to consumers or decides to recall a drug.
This announcement corroborates my experience with a generic calcium channel blocker. I won't go into details. My body reacted within just hours of taking the generic, indicating that there was going to be a problem with the new drug. I had mostly cardiological side effects from the generic. Some days later, after no relief, I took the pill bottle with the generic drug to several pharmacies, asking why it was making me so sick. All pharmacists insisted the generic drug I had brought was exactly the same as the brand name drug I had been using right up until then. Therefore, it should NOT be causing any problems. By law, the type and content of active ingredients in a generic drug must match those in a brand name drug. However, this rule does not apply to the fillers used to bind the active ingredients together.
I wish the pharmacists would keep more open minds and listen to their clients. Seems to me that most have a tunnel vision regarding the drugs they sell.
flowergirl
Last edited by flowergirl2day; 08-31-2008 at 11:46 PM.
Re: Toprol Xl (brand) And Motoprolol Xl (generic) Are Not Equivalent
Thanks for keeping us informed, ACE. I, too had a problem with a generic form of Labetalol from a different manufacturer. I had been taking the drug from one manufacturer for about 3yrs. After starting a new bottle my b/p started rising & right away my stomach started acting up. After passing it off as stress etc. I looked at the bottle & saw that it was a different manufacturer.
Then the fun began. Most pharmacies buy the drug from the cheapest manufacturer. I finally had to switch to Rite Aide in order to get the same manufacturer each time.
Check each pill for the symbol, number etc. One pharmacy gave me pills with no printing on them. They were mixed in with other one with printing. The pharmacist was quite upsett with me for thinking that that was a problem . Fam
Re: Toprol Xl (brand) And Motoprolol Xl (generic) Are Not Equivalent
The pharmacies and also many doctors will tell us that the generic and brand are the same thing. When tested by various independent labs, apparently this is not always the case. The testing found multiple inactive ingredients not found in TOPROL XL. This can have serious side effects for many who are sensitive to these ingredients. Also, a pills content may be 7% over or 7% under the stated content. The FDA requires that any approved drug be effective within a 20% range of the original patented or brand name drug. This means that the effectiveness may be 20% greater or 20% less effective than the brand name so that two generic drugs could contain as much as a 40% difference from each other. Numerous alerts were posted for Tetracycline, not having the proper ingredients. This means infections can get worse and continue to spread. The generic drug Tegretol was causing seizures. Until recently over 80 % of drug ingredients came from plants throughout Europe. According to the New York Times, generics are being made much more cheaply with ingredients coming from Korea, India and China. According to the National Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers only a small handfull of these plants meet FDA standards.
I checked the price of generic ATENOLOL on my Pharmacy mail order site, The cost for 90 pills of the generic was $4.17 and the cost for the brand for ATENOLOL (TENORMIN) 90 pills was $127.60. If my copay is 25.00 which pill will the pharmacy dispense? You guessed right, the cheapest pill he can give me. That's why pharmacies insist that the generics are the same as brand.
As I see it, the danger with these generic substitutions (which the pharmacies have the legal right to substitute without notifying the doctor or the patient) is that heart and blood pressure medications have to be manufactured to precise standards and dosing. This is the main reason that new brand drugs and manufacturing standards are scrutinized by the FDA for the proper placebo studies and the millions of dollars in costs to the pharmaceutical companies to get these drugs properly tested and approved. The generic drugs "do not" have to perform these studies to sell and market their pills. The FDA is very happy about all this because it keeps pill prices lower and more affordable. Besides, you can't prove that the seizures, strokes and spread of infections are due to the pills. The sad thing is that many of us are required to take these pills for life. Which reminds me, I need to take my medicine.....
P.S. I did some heavy research on this. Unfortunately, most insurance plans will only cover generic pills. If you are having problems with your new generic pills, with side effects not experienced before, tell your doctor. When he fills your new prescription you can have him specify "DAW" (Dispense As Written) which requires the pharmacy to prescribe only the brand drug. The good news is that many brand drugs are much cheaper and affordable because of the generic competition. The generic TOPROL XL is about $50.00 and the brand is about $75.00 (for most doses) Tell your doctor to prescribe a higher dosage and you can split it in half.
Re: Toprol Xl (brand) And Motoprolol Xl (generic) Are Not Equivalent
Well said, ACE.
It has been shown that problems with generic drugs can and do arise. There are small differences that can affect how our bodies handle the generic drugs. Some of the differences between brand name drugs and generics are the production process itself and the type and amount of inactive ingredients -fillers, dyes, binders and flavoring agents. These variations can reduce the drug's effectiveness and also lead to NEW side effects and allergies. When the absorption of the drug from the stomach is affected as a consequence of these small but sometimes significant differences, one might need a higher dose of the generic medication to attain the same results as with the brand name drug. The body might process such a drug differently, because it is NOT identical to a brand name drug by any means. I had one very bad experience in that regard, and that was enough. No one will convince me that brand name and generic drugs are the same. Sometimes switching from a brand name mix of active and inactive ingredients to another, which is slightly different, results in an inappropriate response. The body simply cannot adjust to the switch.
In this country, drug companies are not allowed to advertise directly to the consumers. This results in lower marketing costs of the brand name drugs than in the U.S. I don't think that our drug prices reflect this saving though!
One should always check the color and shape of one's medications before picking them up from the pharmacy. The pharmacies can substitute a generic drug for a brand name drug without disclosure to us, the consumers. The one good thing that works in our favor is that the generic versions of our meds MUST differ in shape and color from the brand name drugs, making them easily recognizable.
flowergirl
Last edited by flowergirl2day; 09-01-2008 at 11:29 PM.
Re: Toprol Xl (brand) And Motoprolol Xl (generic) Are Not Equivalent
Flowergirl, I hear you,
It is ironic how life comes around... my husband takes Accupril, well when they finally came out with a generic, Quanipril, I told him he had to take it. Well he complained and complained that the med was not the same. I told him it was all in his head.
Welll fast forward a couple of years to me and Costco changed manufacturers of the Lisinopril to a company out of India called IVAX and I have not been the same since. This is when I realized all meds are not the same even if they have the same name.
Re: Toprol Xl (brand) And Motoprolol Xl (generic) Are Not Equivalent
This thread is so interesting because my latest problems all started with a new manufacturer of Lisinopril. I picked up my prescription from Costco and immediately noticed that the bottle and pill looked different. I took the med back into the pharmacy and they said that they changed manufacturers and that it was the same pill.
The day I took that first pill from that new manufacturer has been life changing for me. I never could figure out how my blood pressure was 200/100 when I went to the ER.
I think I am changing pharmacies too.
Bre
Last edited by mod-anon; 09-02-2008 at 10:47 PM.
Reason: removed quote
Re: Toprol Xl (brand) And Motoprolol Xl (generic) Are Not Equivalent
Bre,
Interestingly, IVAX is the current manufacturer of Labetalol which I take. So far so good. I'm always afraid that they will stop making it & where will I be. I hate being so dependent on a pill!!! Fam
Re: Toprol Xl (brand) And Motoprolol Xl (generic) Are Not Equivalent
I feel bad for my parents who are old and on a pension. Their insurer (EPIC) will only pay for generic drugs. Both my parents take TOPROL among other drugs. They pay a $20.00 COPAY for each generic drug they purchase. If they opt for the brand name they will have to pay almost entirely for the prescription. Like most senior citizens, when you are on a fixed income, it is very hard to pay full price for pills. It's bad enough that we need to take certain pills, but to be told by our insurer and pharmacy that they will not pay for any other brand pills and without our knowledge be switched to the cheapest untested pill is terrible. The complaints in the past were always directed at the big drug companies who charge higher prices for new brand name drugs. At least most of time these pills were tested and they worked. The generic manufacturers on the other hand (Of course, I do not mean all generic manufacturers) are producing the cheapest mixture of junk fillers, and the most inferior products with almost no quality assurance, and the public is forced to purchase them, and continue on them indefinitely. The worst part of all this is that these pills do not always work to lower blood pressure or cause some other unknown horrid side effects. A pharmacy or drug store chain now has the option to purchase drugs from a wide selection of Generic manufacturers. (Many companies pop up over-night) Most pharmacies will purchase the largest bulk of pills at the cheapest price. If the ACME pharmaceutical company with offices in Osh-Kosh wants to sell 65,000 untested/expired pills (manufactured in the Amazon) for dirt cheap, they will find a huge success with most of the FDA approved drug chains. They can then pass on these great savings to the public who have a valid prescription which entitles us to improve our health.
P.S. The concept of generic pills was created to try and keep prices down and create more competitition for the big brand name drugs which are very over priced. We now have about 25 companies from all over the world manufacturing the same pill. Some pills are as low as $3.00 for 90 pills (ex. ATENOLOL) The pharmacies are paying bargain basement prices with our health. I think the Generic concept would have been fine if proper standards
were maintained. I am a firm believer that to a large degree "You Get What You Pay For".
Re: Toprol Xl (brand) And Motoprolol Xl (generic) Are Not Equivalent
Quote:
Originally Posted by famnd
Bre,
Interestingly, IVAX is the current manufacturer of Labetalol which I take. So far so good. I'm always afraid that they will stop making it & where will I be. I hate being so dependent on a pill!!! Fam
Hi famnd,
Don't worry about the drug not being made anymore. The drug is pretty popular and still sold as "TRANDATE" or LABETALOL
LABETALOL is the generic beta blocker drug. Labetalol is the cheaper generic substitute for the brand drug TRANDATE. According to my pharmacy plan TRANDATE costs approx. $175.00 for 90 pills, and the generic LABETALOL is $81.00. The other manufacturers are EON labs and WATSON pharm. The brand drug "TRANDATE" is manufactured by Prometheus Laboratories.
P.S. If your prescription insurance covers both brand and generic opt. for the
BRAND drug TRANDATE. On the other hand if you have to pay more for the brand drug, and most important you feel fine with the LABETALOL stick with it.
Re: Toprol Xl (brand) And Motoprolol Xl (generic) Are Not Equivalent
I had the exact same issue with the generic version of Toprol 25mg. Had my doc write it as no substitutions. I'm on only 25mg a day (trust me lots more meds than that to control BP) but I did notice the difference.
Re: Toprol Xl (brand) And Motoprolol Xl (generic) Are Not Equivalent
Ace,
thanks for the info. When I last checked, the other meds like Labetalol had fillers that might be a problem for me. I think dye was an issue too. The pharmacy doesn't even stock labetalol here because it just isn't popular here. Fam
Re: Toprol Xl (brand) And Motoprolol Xl (generic) Are Not Equivalent
Apparently the best generic for TOPROL XL is from PAR pharmaceuticals according to CONSUMERLABS and PEOPLES PHARMACY. PAR pharmaceuticals
is a kind of distributor for ASTRA ZENECA the brand TOPROL XL. The worst are from EON LABS (a divison of SANDOZ) and ETHEX (a division of KV Pharmaceutical). At least we have 1 acceptable generic to choose from.
Another generic which is under scrutiny is a pill called WELLBUTRIN XL. If you take any of these generics, take at your own risk.
Re: Toprol Xl (brand) And Motoprolol Xl (generic) Are Not Equivalent
Hi Ace - This news is really unsettling, to say the least! It shouldn't be legal to change the brand name drug in any way! Why can't they just give the formula to the company making the generic version? How do we even know that the 'extras' they put into the generic drugs are safe? Is the FDA doing anything about the generic versions of Toprol - or are they just 'looking into it'?? Now I'm wondering if Bystolic is different fromNebivolol?
Bystolic is not working at all for my systolic pressure! According to what I've read about Nebivolol, it lowers both systolic and diastolic; but it has even managed to raise my diastolic pressure a little. Is Nebivolol exactly the same as Bystolic? mabent
Re: Toprol Xl (brand) And Motoprolol Xl (generic) Are Not Equivalent
Mabent,
BYSTOLIC is a brand name drug for at least the next 15 years. Nebivolol is the propietary active ingredients. The manufacturer has too much to lose if they start messing around with the active ingredient. Pills begin to screw up when they go generic. This is because numerous companies begin to manufacture the same pill for cost savings. In theory, this is good for brand name competition and savings, but bad for us if the ingredients are not the same. Nebivolol is being marketed in Europe under the brand name NEBILET. In the U.S. the brand is called BYSTOLIC. When new BRAND name pills are approved by the FDA, the testing standards are extremely rigorous. These same standards do not apply for the numerous generic versions being sold. BYSTOLIC is trying to gain a market share in the beta blocker market. They have a very good product with a proven track record. They are not selling this pill at bargain basement prices (ex. Atenolol 90 days for $4.21). Their standards have to be excellent. If not, they can lose millions of dollars and their legitimate place in the beta blocker market. Rest assured, BYSTOLIC is a valid pill with a proven track record. You need to give the pill some more time for a valid judgement. I am exploring the other beta blockers available to better compare the blood pressure and side effect differences. I may go back to BYSTOLIC if these mild gastro-issues do not improve soon.
Last edited by mod-anon; 09-14-2008 at 09:59 AM.
Reason: removed quote
Re: Toprol Xl (brand) And Motoprolol Xl (generic) Are Not Equivalent
<removed> I can tell you that most generics are safe, effective, and cost way less than the brand names! I take metoprolol for my blood pressure ( I used to take Toprol), and I take generic birth control pills! My blood pressure has been perfect with the generic and I have had no problems with my birth control! I believe some people have a sensitive body chemistry and therefore may have problems with the inactive "fillers" in some medications. But, as far as being equivalent in the active ingredients, the FDA is very stringent about that! I am glad for generics because they really do save money and for most people they work just fine!
__________________
Kellis
Last edited by mod-anon; 09-14-2008 at 10:26 AM.
Reason: removed profession
. Fam
