Q. What is a generic medicine?
A. A generic medicine is one made to be interchangeable with an existing brand name medicine. It is chemically similar (contains the same amount of active ingredient) and has been demonstrated to be equivalent in terms of safety and effectiveness. Generic medicines are subject to rigorous licensing by the Government to ensure that the medicine is manufactured to the highest quality and is safe and effective. A generic medicine may be marketed once the patent protecting the original brand medicine has expired.

Q. Why are generic medicines more affordable than branded originals?
A. A generic medicine is a copy of an original medicine. Generic companies do not have all the initial research and development costs that the originator company has, and so generic products are more affordable.

Q. Are generic medicines the same as the original?
A. Yes and no. Yes - they are therapeutically equivalent to the original medicine. This means that they work in the same way in the body and are associated with the same risks and benefits of the original medicine. Generic medicines contain the same active ingredients, are of the same dosage form and are identical in strength to the original medicine. No - a generic medicine may contain different inactive ingredients (excipients), could be a different shape or colour and will be in different packaging.

Q. Can the side effects differ between generic and original medicines?
A. Rarely. As the generic and original medicine may contain different inactive ingredients (particularly preservatives, flavours or colours) there is a rare chance that a patient may suffer an allergic reaction to one of these ingredients that is not present in the other medicine. So a patient could suffer a reaction to an original medicine and not the generic medicine, or vice versa. Patient information leaflets provide valuable information on all the ingredients in a medicine. It is therefore important to read the patient information leaflet when starting a new medicine, and when switching from one company's medicine to the same medicine from another company.

Q. Is it always safe to choose a generic medicine?
A. Yes. Generic medicines have to be licensed by the Government in the country where they are marketed. Only approved medicines made by approved companies can be supplied to patients. The Government employs a team of doctors, scientists and pharmacists who check the product to ensure it has been made to a high quality and is safe and effective. In the UK the licensing authority is the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and in Ireland the licensing authority is the Irish Medicines Board.

Q. Do generics always have "neutral" packaging and names?
A. No, there are both "plain" and "branded" generic medicines. In the UK and Ireland prescription-only generic medicines are usually plain or unbranded; whilst over-the-counter medicines (bought from a pharmacy or other shop) usually have a brand name.

Q. The expiry date on my medicine just states the month - will this be the beginning or the end of the month?
A. Manufacturing expiry date is always the end of the month.

Q. Do Actavis make Antabuse (Disulfiram) implant?
A. No, Antabuse implants are not currently licensed in the UK.

Q. Has my medicine name changed?
A. Your medicine may have changed from the British Approved Name (BAN) to the International Non-proprietary Name (INN). Only the medicine name will have changed. The active ingredient in your medicine remains unchanged.