Grease-stained ceiling - stainblock or what?

[Peter Ashby]

But again in my experience that is not true. I suppose it could be one of those differences between England and Scotland.

I am not underestimating it. You seem to be assuming that all prescribed drugs are so prescribed because of pressure from big Pharma. That is an extremely biased position that does not reflect reality. It also ignores the increasing role of NICE to do the intellectual legwork in assessing drugs.

That's right, change the subject. Lets not spend money on a substance that does no harm and has been shown to do a lot of good.

Peter

[Andy Hall]

NICE does produce some reasonable work. Unfortunately, the PCTs then proceed to ignore it if they can find a cheaper solution than that recommended.

[Peter Ashby]

Nothing wrong with generics. Why people pay well over the odds for neurofen when plain pack versions are much cheaper and exactly the same.

Peter

[Andy Hall]

There are generics and generics I was specifically talking about substitutions among classes of drug as opposed to direct equivalents.

I agree with you that it makes good sense to use generics where the original drug is off patent.

However, it is rather diffferent when substitutions are made for less effective generics that are off patent. For example, Pfizer has a patent on atorvastatin (brand name Lipitor) until 2011 in most countries. It is known to be more effective than off patent statins, but of course is more expensive.