When a drug company researchs, develops and then markets a new drug, the law provides a period of time in which it is illegal for anyone else to copy it and then sell it. This is intended to give drug companies an incentive to research and sell new drugs.
After a period of several years, it becomes legal for other manufactures to copy it and sell it under other brand names or generic labels.
The FDA requires that generic versions are within 5% margin of error of the brand name drug in terms of how it is released into your bloodstream over time. In other words, generics have to be the same chemical as the brand name drug with very similar action in your body.
On the other hand, it is possible for one generic to be 5% "above the curve" and for another to be 5% "below the curve" which means that the two generics might be 10% different in how they get in and out of your system.
For the most part, this difference does not seem to result in clinical differences or outcomes in a variety of medicines including blood pressure, cholesterol and hormonal medicines.
Mind you, it is possible that reactions to inert ingredients that are in one generic but not another may account for side-effects such as rashes or stomach upset.
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