Newer Does NOT Equal Better

We all acknowledge that there are things that were better in the past. There are things that mankind has tried to improve, but failed.

Many pitchers have tried but none have succeeded at improving upon the Nolan Ryan Express. We have had many presidents since the Civil War but have any really been as good as President Lincoln? There are some fantastic actresses currently but are any of them anywhere near as good as Audrey Hepburn? There continue to be thousands of people who try to make a living as artists but do any of their paintings equal that of Van Gogh or any other of the old masters?

On the reverse. There things that have been improved upon greatly.







There is no comparison between the 8 Track and the iPod when it comes to sound quality, convenience, and portability. There is also no question that thousands of improvements have been made between the Model-T and the Aston-Martin Vanquish.

The same principles apply to drugs. Newer is not always better, and better is not always necessary. Nowadays it costs Billions (with a "B") to research and market new drugs. So drug companies have opted to go a cheaper route by not creating as many new drugs and instead they have been tweaking and or mixing the old ones.

Why research a new drug when you can just take an old one and combine it with another old one and then make them brand name again. For example, Caduet is nothing but Lipitor mixed with Norvasc. Norvasc (amlodipine) is generic and very cheap, Lipitor is still brand name only but not for much longer. By mixing the two together they can extend the patent for years without doing any actual work. This is not an isolated even, more examples are: Vytorin = Zocor (has a generic) + Zetia (will soon have a generic), Hyzaar = Cozaar (soon to have a generic) + Hydrochlorothiazide (Super cheap generic), Avandamet = Metformin (very cheat generic) + Avandia (soon to have a generic).

The other route drug companies have been taking is they have been tweaking just enough to get a new patent but not enough to require any actual effort or make any actual difference in therapy. There are hundred of examples of this, I will just list the most frustrating examples. The first is Antara (fenofibrate, a cheap generic), the drug companies tweaked it and made Tricor (fenofibrate) which is brand name only. Tricor is about to go generic so the tweaked it again to make Trilipix (fenofibric acid)! The next example is Celexa, it is now generic citalopram, which is a $4 generic. The drug companies tweaked it and made Lexapro (escitalopram) which is around $100! Even the best insurances are reluctant to pay for Lexapro and if they do the best copay I have seen was $20 which is still five times more than generic Celexa. There are many more examples but this is already turning into an extremely long blog, and I think you get the point.

Just always remember that then newest drug isn't always then best drug. Also you may not always need the best drug. One example is Lipitor vs Zocor, the first is by far the best but also much, much more expensive. Lets say you go to your doctor and you have high cholesterol, but it is only a little high. You don't need a nuclear bomb (Lipitor) to take care of it, the hand grenade (Zocor) will best just fine for you.

My suggestion is to always tell your doctor you want generic whenever you can get it. If you tell your pharmacists they can help you but it will save you a lot of time if you just let your doctor know from the get go.

Sorry I took so long to blog, but Finals and Rotations have been taking up all of my time. Now I am lucky enough to get a summer break of a few weeks.