Re: Generics and Pharmaceutical Companies

[Guest guest]

Em wrote:

Same thing happened last summer with Prozac. Went generic in August, but

the company had already come out with a " new " medication purportedly

intended for " premenstrual dysphoric disorder, " or PMDD, called

Sarafem. Sarafem IS Prozac, fluoxetine hydrochloride. There is no

chemical difference. It's a blatant way for the pharmaceutical company, in

this case Eli Lilly, to keep Prozac on the market and safe from

generic-drug laws for another 12 years.

The question that frightens me is that of overprescribing without knowing

it. If a patient is on Prozac and sees her gynecologist about PMS, is she

meticulous about saying she's already on fluoxetine hydrochloride? Does

she know that Prozac and Sarafem are identical? Does her doctor? What if

she is mistakenly put on both prescriptions simulataneously? I'm not sure

this will happen, but fact is, it could. And double dose of Prozac would

be -- well. Not necessarily a good thing.

Of course hopefully her pharmacist catches the gaffe before it goes that

far. Always the best resource. Well, that, and your own education. These

days it's HARD to know what you're taking without doing a lot of research,

asking a lot of questions, and keeping records of what you've taken, what

you're taking, and any interactions or reactions that you've noted. I

think it has the potential to do some serious harm, if we the consumers

aren't very careful. Not a single non-psychiatric doctor I've ever asked

(only about 5) has known that Sarafem and Prozac were the same.

Kinda scary.

Em

It was my GYN who prescribed Serafem for me over a year ago. Not for PMDD, but

because I was talking with him about depressed I was and mentioned I felt

suicidal at times.

He told me he had some samples he wanted me to try and referred me to the shrink

and therapist I go to now. After I questioned him a little about Serafem, a drug

I had never heard of, he told me straight out that it was just Prozac marketed

under a different name. He said alot of the reason it was being used for PMDD

with a different name, is that alot of people are afraid of Prozac.

I took the samples he gave me, along with a prescription he wrote for it. When I

got in to see the shrink 2 weeks later, she decided to just keep me on the 20 mg

of Serafem and add 20 mg more of Prozac, since I had 6 refills on the Serafem.

Plus, she added Serzone.

My pharmacist went wild when I tried to get both the Serafem and Prozac

refilled. She called me over to the side and asked me if I knew they were the

same thing. I explained the whole story to her, but she still called the shrink

to confirm my story. This went on for several months. Finally the shrink got

tired of it and just dropped the Serafem and changed me to 2 20 mg Prozac every

day. Yes, it is the generic, since Medicaid requires generics whenever possible.

So that's my story, so it was so long.

{{{Hugs}}}

Jacqui

Jacqui McCallister

Age: 39

Dx'd with FMS: 1995, but symptoms since 1984

Additional Illnesses: Papillary Thyroid Cancer spread to lungs, Intra-Occular

Migraines, TMJ, Allergies, Periodontitis, Mitral Valve Prolapse,

IBS, Osteoarthritis, MPS and CFS, Congenital Hip Dysplasia, Osteopenia, Bunions,

Heel Spur, Light/Smell/Sound Sensitivities, Motion Sickness, Sleep Problems,

Depression, Anxiety

Location: Ridgeview, West Virginia USA

Divorced, no kids. One furbaby, Jasmine, my Himalayan cat

Hobbies: Internet, Country, Rock and Gospel music, TV, Horror Movies, Days of

Our Lives, Trivia games

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Email: persephene@...

" Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the

things we did not do that is inconsolable. "

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