The equivalence of generic drugs to their brand-name precursors continues to be controversial. The last Medical Letter review of this subject (2002) concluded that well-documented therapeutic inequivalence between brand-name and FDA-approved generic drugs had not been reported.1 Is that still true? New data have become available for some drugs.

CARDIOVASCULAR DRUGS — A systematic review and meta-analysis of 47 studies comparing generic and brand-name drugs used to treat cardiovascular disease, particularly beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, diuretics and warfarin, found no evidence that brand-name drugs were superior to their generic counterparts. In randomized controlled trials, clinical outcomes with brand-name drugs were not any better than with generic drugs in 7 of 7 trials of beta-blockers, 10 of 11 trials of diuretics, 5 of 7 trials of calcium channel blockers and 5 of 5 trials of ... more      

Would you like to read the rest of this article?  Gain access below.