Physicians "resistant" to generic Rx drugs

US physicians are "resistant" to the benefits of generic prescription medicines according to the New York Times. This view was expressed in a  review of health professionals' reaction to a study which had indicated  that "a generic drug costing only pennies a day lowered high blood  pressure more effectively than did newer, far costlier drugs."

The NY Times noted that the findings were challenged by a combination of  "pharmaceutical companies [initiating] heavy marketing campaigns and  [paying] doctors to tout their costlier products," evidence that new  agents not included in the comparative study rendered its conclusions  dated and "some specialists found fault with the design or  interpretation of the study." To cap it all, another research paper from  a smaller Australian trial produced a different conclusion.

The case "sounds a caution" to US reformers who wish to deploy  comparative effectiveness trials to determine the cost effectiveness of  new medicines, the NY Times concludes. It also warns that with most  medical journal editorials' coverage of the case indicates a degree of  skepticism about the degree to which a copy drug can automatically be  substituted for a branded version.