Hello MS Bloggers,

First of all I do not belong to any medical field. My intention of writing this blog is to let people know and create awareness on how they can buy medicines by paying less money.

What is a Generic Medicine : Generic drugs/medicines are copies of brand-name drugs that have exactly the same dosage, intended use, effects, side effects, route of administration, risks, safety, and strength as the original drug. In other words, their pharmacological effects are exactly the same as those of their brand-name counterparts.

Why Generic Medicine is cheaper : Generic makers don’t face the same costs as manufacturers of brand-name drugs. That’s because the brand-name maker often invented the drug, a process that can cost hundreds of millions of rupees. This is the rationale behind drug patents: They give pharmaceutical companies a period of years when only they can make money on a product in which they have made a large investment. That investment also includes advertising: all those TV commercials and billboards at bus stops.For a generic manufacturer, no such investment is required — not in development and not in marketing. The drug’s formula is known, the clinical trials are complete; the generic maker’s only requirement is to demonstrate to regulators that its version is as good and effective in humans as the original.That is an enormous economic advantage for these companies, which is why their drugs can be much cheaper.

How do I know the name of Generic Medicine : Its very easy. We will take an example here. Let's say, my doctor has prescribed me a drug named - ZOLFRESH 5MG. So, in other words my doctor has given me 5 milligram of ZOLFRESH drug. Now, for this drug, we need to know the composition and its generic name. Please refer to the image attached.

1. Visit https://www.medguideindia.com

   
   




2. Search for brand name - for eg. Zolfresh 5mg

   
   




3. Once it opens the Constituents, then click on Matched Brands

   
   




4. Then Click on Matched Brands with Above constituents

   
   




5. It will list the name of the manufacturer, the name of the medicine and price.

   
   

So, as per the outcome, ZOLFRESH 5MG costs Rs.50 for 10 tablets. ie. 5/- per tablet.

If I buy ZAPPY 5MG (same constituents) it would cost me Rs.11 for 10 tablets. ie. 1.10 per tablet.

So, I save 3.90/- per tablet and on 10 tablet I save Rs.39.00.

Not all medicines are available as their generic names due to patent righs. But most of them are available and you can save a lot.

So, before buying medicine, take few minutes to visit this website https://www.medguideindia.com and search for the other brands available. If you could not find the brand, then make sure you have typed in the correct spelling while searching for it.

Thanks

I have attached two images for easy guidance.