Generic Contraceptives Are Cheaper But Are They Safe and Reliable?
If you hand in your prescription for Yaz at the pharmacy and are offered a ‘generic’ alternative such as Janya, how secure do you feel in accepting the cheaper product- after all this is your family planning at stake here, not some hay fever trial!
Often the doctor will indicate on your script that a generic product is optional too, if one is available but what if you wish to buy online for convenience and save a few dollars in the process? I’m not taking a legal or scientific stance here, just explaining simply for the average consumer, what the term ‘generic’ means so that you can confidently make a decision about this option for your contraceptive pill if one is available.
Generic options may not be offered to you for all contraceptives but when they are, they are usually cheaper than the original, patented drug and for an item that can occupy a regular spot on your shopping list for YEARS, those significant dollars you save may well relieve the budget elsewhere.
First, a bit about what a ‘drug’ is…
Any drug that requires a doctor’s prescription is made up of chemical compounds. Compounds are made up of molecules containing atoms that are joined together in various configurations or patterns, depending on the type of compound. When a drug company comes up with a chemical substance they wish to market as a drug, they know the configuration of the atoms in the molecule and that configuration usually dictates what the name of the substance should be.
How is the Janya contraceptive pill classified as being the ‘generic’ equivalent of Yaz/Yasmin?
I reluctantly take a drug to lower my high cholesterol (yes I’ve tried all the other non chemical, detox, diet related solutions in vain!) -its chemical name is atorvastatin which the company Pfizer patented so that no one else could make or sell it for the term of the patent ‘life’. Pfizer called the drug Lipitor, which they registered as a trademark so again, no one else can use this name.
When we use the term, ‘generic’ we are usually talking about an alternative drug that is cheaper than the brand but does the same thing. While the patent is in force, for any particular drug, there will be no generic alternative. You can check the patent expiration date on line for a drug you are interested in. Patents are country specific too so if your drug is not registered in another country, you may find its generic equivalent is available in that country. Janya is the generic form of Yasmin (or Yaz)
Costs to develop new contraceptive pills are high and a company that manufactures that same contraceptive pill after a patent expires does not incur these costs so can produce the same contraceptive pill cheaper and therefore sell it on at a lower price than the original. Most of us call these cheaper products ‘generic’ and they are often made by the same company as the patented version.
No doubt you’ve bought ‘generic’ baked beans at your supermarket and been disappointed with the quality, especially if you’re a Heinz fan but when the term ‘generic’ is applied to a drug used in such an important product as a contraceptive pill, ingredients and quality are much more regulated. These medicines act on the body in the same way as the patented ones and are required by law to contain ‘comparable’ or identical active ingredients and be functionally equivalent to the original. For this reason generics are generally accepted to have exactly the same medicinal or contraceptive effectiveness as the original brand name drug. Janya for example, acts in the same way as Yasmin/Yaz (containing active compounds -3 mg of drospirenone and 0.02 mg of ethinyl estradiol)
Next time you have a prescription to fill, you can confidently speak to your pharmacist (yes, even for on line orders) about generic options that may be available for your contraceptive pill. If you happen to be using Yasmin or Yaz, check out the prices for the generic product, Janya HERE as I believe this supplier has the best on line price and you may get volume discount.
