If all those generics have the same name, they should be identical.
If they have different names they are not!
Going back to me previous post, if you look at a pack of Zirtec it will also say Cetirizine Hydrochloride. If you look at any of the generics, they will also say Cetirizine Hydrochloride - but no fancy name. Some may just say Cetirizine but on closer inspection it will say contains Cetirizine Hydrochloride.
They are all the same drug.
However, they are usually sold alongside a different drug - if from the same manufacturer, usually in an identical pack but with a different colour and both packs will make the same claims for what they are intended for but the name of the drug is different because it IS different!
Similarly, Atorvastatin and Simvastatin are both statins and make the same claims but they are entirely different drugs!
All of my repeat prescriptions - including some I only need occasionally - are made online and sent by my GP to the pharmacy I nominate. There is the usual 'wait two days for your presciption to be prepared' warning but I know that if I request a prescription now or tomorrow that if I log on to the system again around Monday lunchtime, I will see that it has been done so I cand simply stroll down to the pharmacy and collect it!
Same active ingredient(s) and same potency (although many medicines are available in different strengths and it will be specified on the prescription).
"Generic medicines contain the same active ingredients as originator pharmaceuticals and act in the same way on patients. Equivalent generic medicines may contain different non-active ingredients (such as colourings, starches, sugars, etc) and they may differ in size, colour or shape, but none of these have any impact on the therapeutic effect, i.e., the way they work in the patient's body.
In some cases, the active ingredient in generics and originators may also differ in salts and esters. And just as when originators modify the non-active ingredients, salts or esters in their products, these differences must not affect the therapeutic equivalence between the different products."
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"Medicines also contain inactive ingredients, which are used to formulate the active ingredient into a tablet, liquid, cream or other preparation. These inactive ingredients are called excipients, and different manufacturers do not always use the same ones when formulating their product. This is why medicines containing the same active ingredient, but made by different manufacturers, may vary in appearance. The excipients used may create small differences between them, such as in colour, or the amount of time it takes for a tablet to dissolve in the gut and be absorbed into the bloodstream. However, these differences are rarely significant, which is why generic and branded medicines are (with a few exceptions) interchangeable. ...
"There are a handful of medicines that your doctor must prescribe by the brand name because the inactive ingredients do affect the action of the medicine. ... it is important that you always take the same brand, because different brands of these medicines may differ significantly in the way they are absorbed. If a different brand than usual is taken, the blood levels of the active ingredient could stray outside the required therapeutic range. If the amount in the blood becomes too low, the effect of the medicine may be lost; if the amount in the blood becomes too high, there may an increased chance of side effects."
The active molecule(s) should be the same, but the constitution (excipient) of the tablet (for example) may vary considerably. You can get certain drugs that are identical except for the enteric coating and find that the coating rather than the drug itself results in an inferior product. Like so many other things in life, you get what you pay for.
There are plenty of commmon drugs with several multiple brand names - the humble Paracetomol(UK) aka Acetaminophen(USA) goes by several brandnames Tylnol and Panadol for example. Some painkiller formulations include caffeine as well and variations often go by a different name. They have the same active ingredient but a different adjuvent.
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Anadin and Neurofen sell several formulations with different packaging for premium prices. Brandnames invariably charge more than generics.
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Indeed but a different brandname doesn't always mean a different chemical. The one where you do have to be very careful is same nominal dose and same chemical but a controlled release vs a single hit.
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