“A saving grace of the prescription drug market in this country is our access to generic
medicines.  When a name-brand medicine has been on the market for eight to twelve years, it loses its patent.  Then, other companies can make the same pills and submit them to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for review. 

 

Sure, these pills may come in plain-looking packages and lack fancy logos, but they are every bit as effective as their slick-looking counterparts.  Looking at the price tag won’t make the case, either, as the name-brand pharmaceuticals are likely to give patients sticker shock in comparison to the cost of the generic.

 

After all, someone has to pay for the million-dollar advertising campaigns touting the next new wonder drug.

 

Many times, it is as simple as asking the pharmacist or the doctor if a generic alternative is available to the medicine being prescribed. 

 

This model works for the consumer, and it ought to also work for the taxpayers. 

 

We can increase the use of low-cost generic medications in government programs at the Veterans Administration and Medicare Part D, and we should.  Right now, utilization of generic drugs stands at about 60 percent.  But the practice could benefit these programs by saving millions of dollars per year, money that could be used to great advantage to shore up other parts of the health care safety net for older Americans.

 

With the retirements of 80 million members of the Baby Boom generation right around the corner from Medicare, we have to do everything possible to keep the program alive and viable for the senior citizens who will depend upon it in the near and distant future.

 

There are two other ways to improve the market for generic pharmaceuticals:

 

First, we can make sure the FDA has the proper funding to approve the applications for generic medications as quickly and smoothly as possible.  One would think that the process of investigating a medicine which has already been through the approval process in a chemically-identical form would be faster the second time around. 

Because this section of the FDA is chronically underfunded, however, that is not the case.  The average approval time at FDA for a drug is actually faster the first time through the process than the second.

 

This is a wrong that must be righted if we are to extend the advantage of the generic alternative to the general public as soon as it is deemed safe. 

 

The second way in which we can improve use of generic drugs is to create a pathway for the approval of “generic biologics.”  Some biologic medicines can cost $1000 per dose, and there is no process in place to provide consumers with a generic alternative.  I introduced legislation to accomplish this goal in the Congress this year, and Americans who use biologic medicines, like insulin, will benefit from speedy consideration and passage.

 

Given the choice between the plain pill and the pricey one – I know which one I choose, and for taxpayers and patients there should be more generics in the marketplace.”