Generic drugs are an important alternative to branded drugs, with the same efficacy. But when too many generics are changed for a pathology, the patient complies less with the doctor's prescriptions, or worsens his adherence to therapy.
Mercoledì 18 novembre 2015 – L’ECO DI BERGAMO
The results of the study are obtained from the analysis of over 14,500 patients of the two Local Health Authorities. Six therapeutic areas were examined: diabetology, cardiology, dyslipidemia, rheumatology, psychiatry and hypertension. "The goal was to see how the patient behaves when the pharmacist replaces a generic medicine prescribed by the doctor with another equivalent medicine, with the same effectiveness."
The survey found that "the patient's adherence to the prescription decreases, with a value equal to 28% if the replacement affects half of the prescriptions. In all 6 areas, there was a progressive reduction in adherence after a drug change: on average, if one generic prescription out of two is replaced with an equivalent one, dyslipidemia and diabetes have the highest percentage reduction of adherence (respectively the 48% and 
This decline in adherence, the experts conclude, "implies a lower efficacy and safety of therapeutic treatments, with a consequent increase in the risk of complications and a worsening of the patients' health conditions".
Related news: Summary of results. Horizontal substitution of generic drug and adherence to therapies
Speech of the speakers at the conference to present the work
Wave press release. Medication adherence: decreases by 28% if half of generic drug prescriptions are replaced with another equivalent
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