Quality Of Methadone Generics

Since the drug companies had taken propoxyphene (darvocet ) off the market & my Merck Manuel read that methadone had the same chemical structure, my Dr. Had agreed to let me try methadone in a very small amount for my severe spinal pain. There was nothing left for me or most all older people to try without mental & horrible physical side affect until I started with 1/4 of 10 mg methadone 2 X a day for the 1st yr. After 5 yrs, I am on 20 mg a day & it controls my pain w/ no side effects similar to darvocet. The only generic I would settle for was the mallinckrodt generic as it was better in my opinion than ROXANNE. Then one day I went to pick up my Rx & all they could order was a new brand called Ascend. I called all 12 pharmacies in my whole county & no one has anything or just ascend! I had no choice to take this depressive, barely pain relieving & nauseating, I can't really tell you what it was? These are two totally different acting generics that should most definitely be called 2 different pills. I was stuck with them for 8 whole months until mallinckrodt came back to be able to order at 3-4x the price. Price certainly doesn't Matter if you have finally found the 1 & only thing that works. I heard that there could be a 20% lead way in generics but this should be renamed or taken off the market. In my days as a pharmacy tech there were actually brand name drugs that you could buy. If the generic came out, it was , by law, supposed to be exactly equal to the brand name. It is most sickening that medicine use to have integrity & a miracle for disease & the suffering. Now you need a scientific new evaluation for all generics & a full course for the Dr. to be aware.

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Name brands are still available, but unless your doctor says they are necessary, your insurance usually won't cover them, so you have to pay out of pocket.

As to the 20% difference, that has been in place since the Hatch-Waxman Act went into effect in September of 1984, before that generics were largely unregulated, so there really hasn't been a time that they were required to be 100% identical. The FDA considers the plus, or minus 20% allowable difference to be an acceptable therapeutic window, and for many people, it is.

Hatch-Waxman

However, there are some people that can be sensitive to any slight fluctuation in their medications, and they may experience issues.

The FDA warns that Methadone carries the risk of being habit forming, and may cause side effects, such as nausea, dizziness, headache, and constipation.

Unfortunately, it is also normal for a pharmacy to switch which generic they have in stock, at any given time, depending on which manufacturer is offering the cheapest price, through their supplier, at the time they need to restock.

I know this information doesn't help your situation, I am just explaining how things work.

Have you managed to find the other, yet, and get your pain under control?

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Then there's a company called New Vista. Basically they are all the same, Methadose is just a brand name for Methadone. Let put it to you in other words, you can go to the store and purchase Motrin or Advil, which are brand names that the manufacturer markets them as. Or you can buy the Walgreens or Rite Aid brand of Ibuprofen. Same exact thing and cheaper because they didn't put any money into the research and development of Ibuprofen and don't need to recoup said monies. I've been on Methadone maintenance for over 25 years now. I am clean, get 27 take home bottles and every thing is ok.

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Re: Joseph (# 2)

Dont believe that urban myth about generics can be off as much as 20%, if that was the case people would be dying. They do make generic chemo therapy meds, antibiotics, antifungal medications and so on. If that had any truth in it people would literally be dying. Don't believe it, its just an urban legend/myth.

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