Myths and Facts About Generic Drugs Unless you want to waste a large amount of money—often hundreds of dollars a year—by using brand-name instead of generic drugs, you should ask for the generic version, especially if you are starting on a drug for the first time. (See table below.) One of the few bits of comparative information about prescription drugs readily accessible to consumers is the retail price of brand-name versus generic drugs. You can get this information easily by asking your pharmacist. The table below was prepared by simply phoning a local pharmacy. In 1984, generic drugs accounted for less than 19% of all prescriptions filled. Today, generic drugs represent more than 54% of all prescriptions dispensed in the United States. In addition, even though generics account for more than half of prescriptions dispensed, generics account for less than 16 cents of every dollar spent on prescription drugs.2 Today there are more than 7,800 generic versions of the approximately 10,668 FDA-approved pharmaceuticals.3 Brand-name drug manufacturers have gone to extraordinary lengths to mislead doctors, pharmacists, and the public into believing that their products are produced to higher standards, and thus are safer and more effective… (More)