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This isn't just a psychiatry topic, but I just read that the FDA is starting to monitor the quality of generics in earnest:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-21/first-u-s-testing-of-generic-drugs-is-unveiled-by-fda.html
As a patient who has been subject to one recall and also who has great difficulty switching between generics, this is great news. I understand that countries specialize in different forms of labor. But making pills requires very little labor. Pill production doesn't happen in India because they're good at it. It happens there because they can cut corners.
I had already found myself trying to get at the underbelly of the beast that is the FDA back in 2005 when one of my drugs was recalled but my pharmacy never notified me. What I found was an institution that had many formal procedures to follow but seemingly not one employee with an IQ.
I wrote a satirical article for my creative writing class a few years later, titled, "FDA to begin monitoring drugs/food in 2010." It wasn't too far off the mark!
If patients tell you that a new generic isn't working, there could be something to it. The Bloomberg article talks about how Teva's Wellbutrin product was banned from import after finding it didn't compare in efficacy to the original. But I guarantee you that up until the point it was recalled, the patients who noticed it was off were considered loons.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-21/first-u-s-testing-of-generic-drugs-is-unveiled-by-fda.html
As a patient who has been subject to one recall and also who has great difficulty switching between generics, this is great news. I understand that countries specialize in different forms of labor. But making pills requires very little labor. Pill production doesn't happen in India because they're good at it. It happens there because they can cut corners.
I had already found myself trying to get at the underbelly of the beast that is the FDA back in 2005 when one of my drugs was recalled but my pharmacy never notified me. What I found was an institution that had many formal procedures to follow but seemingly not one employee with an IQ.
I wrote a satirical article for my creative writing class a few years later, titled, "FDA to begin monitoring drugs/food in 2010." It wasn't too far off the mark!
If patients tell you that a new generic isn't working, there could be something to it. The Bloomberg article talks about how Teva's Wellbutrin product was banned from import after finding it didn't compare in efficacy to the original. But I guarantee you that up until the point it was recalled, the patients who noticed it was off were considered loons.
