Cost Of Some Generic Medications Goes Way Up
By Lynne Adkins
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Generic prescription medication used to save shoppers money over named brands, but now that's not always the case.
You can get sticker shock at the local pharmacy trying to purchase a generic medication. John Williamson, Assistant Director of Pharmacy at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital says there are several reasons:
"It's just basic supply and demand for some things. In the past you could have four or five manufacturers of a single product, and that gets whittled down to one or two and they can charge whatever they want to."
Or a big company buys out the smaller generic maker and raises prices and some drug makers are not passing stringent federal regulations and that puts a squeeze on supply.
Still, Williamson says, overall, generics will save you cash.