 |
Fred Eckel, R. Ph., is the editor-in-chief of Pharmacy Times, executive director of the North Carolina Association of Pharmacists and professor at the University of North Carolina School of Pharmacy. He has been a practicing pharmacist for more than 40 years. Some of the most common questions that he has received surround the vast selection of OTC medications. Here is some of his professional advice: |
What is the best way to choose an OTC medication?
Are store brand OTC medications really the same quality as advertised brands?
Does the FDA scrutinize all store brands?
What is the best way to choose an OTC medication?
While consumers often reach for a brand name they know from advertisements, it is important to choose your medicine based on its active ingredient. Since many popular brand names use different active ingredients under the same brand umbrella, it is important to flip over the package and read the ?Drug Facts? label. The active ingredients are listed, as well as symptoms treated and warnings. I urge people to familiarize themselves with the names of active ingredients vs. advertised brand name only.
Choose by active ingredient and look for store brand equivalent, which will have the same potency of active ingredient as the advertised brand, yet will save money. Store brand OTC medicine quality and effectiveness is equal to the advertised brand, yet store brands cost on average 30 percent less.
Are store brand OTC medications really the same quality as advertised brands?
Store brand OTC medications are of the same quality as advertised brands. The FDA regulates store brand medications, as they do advertised brands, so they must adhere to the same regulations regarding active ingredient and potency. While the color or shape of the pill or flavor of the liquid may differ, as well as the style of packaging, the store brand has the same quality and effectiveness of active ingredients providing comparable symptom relief.
In most food and drug stores, you can look to the right of an advertised brand on the store shelf to find the national brand equivalent (store brand). Compare the active ingredient chart found on the back of the two packages and you will see that they are equal with regard to active ingredient and potency. The only differences between the two products may be the inactive ingredients, such as the colors, etc., and the price.
Why is there such a price difference if store brand medications are equivalent in quality to advertised brand medications?
Twenty percent or more of the retail price of an advertised brand goes toward national advertising for the product. For example, the top four allergy/cold medicines spend an average of $26 million each on advertising. The top four analgesic (pain relieving) brands spend an average of $114 million each on advertising. These expenses are passed on to consumers, making the cost of the product higher. Store brands do little to no national advertising, so these savings are passed on to the consumer.
The price difference between a store brand and an advertised brand amounts to a few dollars, at most. Does that really make that much difference?
Why pay more when you don't have to? The contents of the average American medicine cabinet would cost about $60 less if it was stocked with store brands (Visit the Are You Paying too Much for Your Medicine section of this site). This could ultimately amount to savings of more than one hundred dollars per year, which means a lot to a senior on a fixed income or a family on a budget. Nationally, consumers can save $2 billion annually if they switch to store brand OTC medicines.
Does the FDA scrutinize all store brands?
The store brand OTCs found in all stores, are all placed under the same scrutiny by the FDA, so they must all be of equal quality and effectiveness.
