Home » American College of Physicians Report Calls For Doctors To Prescribe Generic Over Brand-Name Drugs

American College of Physicians Report Calls For Doctors To Prescribe Generic Over Brand-Name Drugs

By  //  November 28, 2015

EDITOR’S NOTE:  A new report from the American College of Physicians (ACP) allays the concerns about the safety and efficacy of generic drugs and encourages an increase in prescribing.

Check your medication list. If you are presently on a brand-name prescription medication, ask your physician if a generic alternative is available and appropriate for you.

— Dr. Jim Palermo, Editor-in-Chief

ACP Report: Doctors Should Prescribe Generic Drugs Over Branded Medications

In a new report, the American College of Physicians call for all doctors to prescribe generic medications over brand-name drugs, where possible, in order to improve treatment adherence and reduce health care spending.
In a new report, the American College of Physicians call for all doctors to prescribe generic medications over brand-name drugs, where possible, in order to improve treatment adherence and reduce health care spending.

MEDICAL NEWS TODAY — In a new report, the American College of Physicians call for all doctors to prescribe generic medications over brand-name drugs, where possible, in order to improve treatment adherence and reduce health care spending.

Conducted by members of the American College of Physicians’ (ACP) Clinical Guidelines Committee, the report is published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The ACP say all doctors should prescribe patients generic drugs rather than branded drugs, where possible.
The ACP says all doctors should prescribe patients generic drugs rather than branded drugs, where possible.

While the use of generic drugs has increased over time, the authors say that many health care providers continue to prescribe expensive brand-name drugs when cheaper generic alternatives are available – an issue that is likely to contributing to high health care costs; around $325 billion is spent on prescription drugs each year in the US.

By reviewing around 2,500 studies of prescription practices, the ACP assessed how often doctors prescribed brand-name drugs when generic alternatives were available.

The Committee also looked at how the prescription of generic medications affects treatment adherence, whether brand name and generic drugs produce similar clinical effects, what the barriers are to increasing use of generic medications and what can be done to overcome such barriers.

CLICK HERE to read the entire article on MedicalNewsToday.com that chronicles the details of this important report establishing that generic drugs can be “just as effective as brand-name counterparts.”