Wellness

[NicksmomESQ]

@On It  I'm sorry you had a problem with certain generic medications. My husband has been on several in the last year & luckily hasn't had a problem.

 Aren't all medications supposed to contain the same compounds in the same quantities? Isn't there oversight  by the Food & Drug Administration?

[catmama]

Rite Aid bought a longtime drugstore chain in Seattle called Bartells.  This happened not quite two years ago.  Bartells had been in the Seattle area for over 100 years and was considered the neighborhood place to shop. Not only were the sales clerks and pharmacy personnel friendly and helpful, they stocked a large selection of northwest products.  It was fun to shop there during the holidays.

Well over the past few months Rite Aid started closing down the Bartells.  Needless to say, people are very angry over this and even though Rite Aid has transferred the pharmacy services to the local Rite Aid's that are also in the neighborhood, they are losing customers.  Everyone has been talking about the rumored bankruptcy and no one is sorry to hear about this.

[PickyPicky3]

[On It]

@NicksmomESQ I do not know how these drugs are regulated that are being manufactured overseas. I was ordering my medication from Valisure which tests every prescription drug they stock. They are the company that found impurities and ingredients that were carcinogenic in batches of blood pressure medications.

The leaders of Valisure have testified before Congress, but sadly the company was bought. Their pharmacy which supplied us was closed not long after the buyout. It is my understanding Valisure still does testing, but we lost our source for reliable medications.

My husband's blood pressure medication was dispensed by CVS with a new generic. His pressure went dangerously high, and we had to go to urgent care. We had his prescription filled elsewhere, and his blood pressure gradually returned to normal levels.

A parent told me the generic medication did not control her young son's bipolar disorder. She said something about the active ingredient being the same, but the suspension ingredients were different from the brand version causing it to be less effective.

Edited to add: Did you read @PickyPicky3's post just above my reply? That is a frightening lack of oversight.

[CatsyCline]

Two of my generic meds was replaced by CVS.  the generic they recently  gave me was manf by TORRENT Pharmaceuticals. TORRENT is based in India. 

Torrent pulled Losartan in 2019 due to the FDA discovery of cancer-causing contaminants.  My medication was not Losartan, but it did cause extreme insomnia. This is a med i have been taking since 1993.  Never had a problem with any other of the generic versions.

The FDA has spent more than a year tracking down the factors and players that led to a global recall of high blood pressure medicines tainted with a suspected carcinogen. Now, the FDA has called out India’s Torrent Pharmaceuticals as one of the main culprits in the mess.

The agency not only issued a warning letter to India’s Torrent, it publicly named the company in an update on its investigation, saying the drugmaker “has been one subject of an ongoing global investigation into nitrosamine impurities in angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) such as valsartan, losartan and irbesartan.” 

The FDA update pointed out the warning letter found manufacturing violations at Torrent’s Taluka-Kadi, Indrad, Gujarat facility in India that contributed to the production of tainted valsartan, losartan and irbesartan. 

A second generic CVS substituted, from Viona,  did not work correctly for me. The med i take is a muscle relaxer.   Comes to find out:

This VIONA  recall involved Metformin:

• The FDA has announced the recall of one brand of a popular type 2 diabetes drug, metformin, over a potentially cancer-causing impurity.
• Viona Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is voluntarily recalling 23 lots of Metformin Hydrochloride Extended-Release Tablets due to the presence of the probable carcinogen NDMA.

[kismet]

For many years I have gotten my prescriptions from Rite Aid.  I do get home delivery for some but one particular generic drug was filled by the home delivery and it made me feel like I was drugged.  I called Rite Aid thinking I could get it filled in the generic I've used for years and they told me they can't order a generic for me and they sell what they get in.  The generic they had was the same one that I didn't want.  Costco did have what I wanted and I got it there and paid a small amount over my home delivery price.  I assumed that the drug that was available was a cheaper version.  Fine on the generic I got at Costco.  My neighbor is on Medicare and  said she has no drug coverage.  Said she uses Good RX instead.  Guess she must be healthy.

[bikerbabe]

@NicksmomESQ

The FDA’s budget for inspecting anything, food, drugs etc, is always a target for large budget cuts with the assertion that businesses can inspect themselves perfectly fine.