Saving money with generic HIV medications Researchers from the MGH Medical Practice Evaluation Center wrote in Annals of Internal Medicine (January 2013 issue) that the American health care system could save more than $1 billion each year if current antiretroviral drugs for HIV infection were replaced with generic versions of the medications.
They also wondered whether the cost-savings might be at the expense of the efficacy of HIV treatment.
Team leader, Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, said "The switch from branded to generic antiretrovirals would place us in the uncomfortable position of trading some losses of both quality and quantity of life for a large potential dollar savings. By estimating the likely magnitude of these offsetting effects now - before generic antiretrovirals actually hit the shelves - we can confront our willingness as clinicians, patients and as a society to make these difficult choices."
Approximately $9 billion are spent annually on antiretroviral drugs in the USA. Most of this expenditure is funded by the government.
The problem with switching to generic medications is treatment adherence. On generic drugs patients have to take more separate tablets, making it less likely that they will follow their doctor's instructions.
The researchers concluded "There's no getting around the fact that savings from generics will only be realized if we deliberately route patients away from the most effective, branded treatment alternative. This is a trade-off that many of us will find emotionally difficult, and perhaps even ethically impossible, to recommend. All of us - consumers, providers and advocates - would be far likelier to embrace such a policy change if we knew the savings would be redirected towards other aspects of HIV medicine."
Generic drugs played a vital role in the US government's plan for AIDS relief abroad, which helped save millions of lives.