Wal-Mart has the generics for ortho-cyclen and ortho-tri-cyclen for $4/month. While it's clearly a ploy to bring people into their stores to spend $$ on other stuff, it's a lovely price break for everyone who is losing access to low cost birth control pills. The only problem is letting everyone know. (They have SCADS of other generics for $4/month too.)

Thanks for the tip. I tend to avoid Wal-Mart, but I think cheap prescriptions definitely warrant an exception.

Wow - I will definitely check that out.

It's especially refreshing for Walmart, considering that Target lets their pharmacists decide whether birth control is morally acceptable for patients or not.

I didn't know that about Target, and frankly it really bums me out. I love Target and thought better of the company than that. It almost makes me want to boycott. Almost.

The pills may contain the same drugs in the same quantities, but many do not. They have a higher failure rate than the brand names. Also, the generic drug companies save money by using cheaper fillers in the manufacturing process.

For example, there was a minor scandal when it was discovered that the generic form of Wellbutrin was made primarily of lactose. This is a very common way to make generic drugs. For those that are lactose intolerant (I'm one) this meant that the drug was impossible to absorb. In essence, the dosage was zero, no matter how much of the actual drug was in the pill.

I had not heard that (use of lactose as filler) about generic drugs. Given the prevelance of lactose intolerance, especially in certain ethnic groups, that would seem to be a real problem.

Seems that most insurance policies strongly encourage use of generics, with lower/no co-pays etc.

If true, I would think that doctors should ask about lactose intolerance before OKing generics, and pharmicists should also do so.

Thanks for the tip, but my OB/GYN actually warned me off the generics recommended by my insurance provider. She said they didn't work as well -- didn't have the same ingredients.

Finding out exactly what's in your generic drug is a problem. First, the doctor will write a prescription for, say, Wellbutrin. Fine. When you get to the pharmacy, they automatically give you the generic because most drug plans won't cover anything else.

When you ask the pharmacist what the filler is, they actually have to phone the drug company to find out what it is. All the company is required to list on the bottle is the active ingredient - unlike over the counter stuff.

Here's the interesting thing. When my pharmacist called the drug manufacturer, they weren't interested in telling her what the binders were. She finally had to threaten to stop carrying their product. Apparently that did it, even though they are required by law to make that information available.

I was right. One 150 mg tablet of generic Wellbutrin has the same amount of lactose as roughly half a liter of whole milk, which is more than enough to make me feel cruddy.

The only solution is to ask your doctor to write "No substitutions" on the prescription, and even then the insurance companies whine about it.

I read that generic medications don't need to be efficacy tested. They only need to show chemical similarity.

For generics to be approved, they have to show bioequivalency in humans. These are clinical trials that measure the amount of active/active metabolite in the blood of volunteers. Some people are give the branded drug product and some people are given the generic. Blood is drawn at set time points and analyzed. The curves (branded vs generic) are overlaid and some statistical analysis is used to demonstrate that the generic behaves the same as the branded "in vivo".

I get my bcp from a target pharmacy for $5/month. I'm also on a generic and so far I like it better than the brand name I was on before. My skin doesn't break out anymore, my periods are lighter and cramps aren't as bad. Oh yeah, and I'm not pregnant. Chalk one up for Portia.