From: jgd@dixie.com (John De Armond)
Subject: Re: Generic drug store brands.
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 92 03:33:38 GMT
Organization: Dixie Communications Public Access.  The Mouth of the South.

dyer@spdcc.com (Steve Dyer) writes:

>In article <b7prn+b@dixie.com> jgd@dixie.com (John De Armond) writes:
>>>>Is it worth the money to pay for brand name drugs such as Tylenol versus drug
>>>>store brands?

>We were discussing brand names of acetaminophen, not that a so-called "muscle
>relaxant" is a serious drug, and acetaminophen isn't.  Acetaminophen at least
>has the advantage of having a measurable pharmacological effect.

No we weren't.  "Drugs" is plural above.  I interpret his question to
be generic.

>I'm am sure the knowledge that the manufacturer was A.H. Robins had a much
>greater effect on your back pain than any pharmacological effect of either
>form of the drug.  

Actually I had no idea who makes the drug and could care less.

>Robaxin is a worthless drug, without any demonstrable
>effect at the doses prescribed (it's essentially an extremely weak sedative
>prescribed in sub-sub-sedative doses; for the chemically curious, methocarbamol
>is the carbamate ester of guaifenesin, the expectorant in Robitussin, also sold
>by A.H. Robins--surprise.)  >Sedative drugs like Valium have some marginal
>utility in treating back spasm, but the placebo effect is very strong.

Obviously Dyer is capable of diagnosing problems and judging drug effects
over the net.  What a skill.  

In my case, I did
not know I had a generic until I went to see why the damn stuff was not
working.  Secondly, my wife has suffered from soft tissue back pain
for years.  She and her docs have experimented with numerous drugs 
in an effort to relieve the pain.  Valium has little effect other 
than making her feel bad.  Elevil (sp) worked but made her sleep all
the time.  Robaxin is the ONLY drug tried to date that relieves the 
pain AND does not cause any side effects.  Since she's been using the drug
since before my problem, it's effects cannot be attributed to my 
saying it worked with me.

Now either or both of our cases might by some stretch of the imagination
involve placebo effects but I doubt it.  Regardless of the mechanism,
the drug gave both of us relief and that's all that really matters.

My attitude with generics is this.  Regardless of the reason I have
been prescribed the drug, be it because it is the best available,
because the doc read about it in a journal, because the mfr will give
him a Benz on the frequent prescriber program or whatever, I have 
at least a bit of confidence that by the time branded drug is approved
by FDA for use, its safety and effectivness has been proven.  I have
no such assurances regarding some nameless generic.  Everyone is entitled
to an opinion on this topic.  You now have mine.  It's worth what you
paid for it.

John
-- 
John De Armond, WD4OQC               |Interested in high performance mobility?  
Performance Engineering Magazine(TM) | Interested in high tech and computers? 
Marietta, Ga                         | Send ur snail-mail address to 
jgd@dixie.com                        | perform@dixie.com for a free sample mag
Need Usenet public Access in Atlanta?  Write Me for info on Dixie.com.