There are many brands of prescription medicines on the market that are similar in every way, except price. This is because there are originator brands as well as generic brands of medicines. Medicines will often have more than one name:

• a generic name, which is the active ingredient of the medicine

• a brand name, which is the trade

name the manufacturer gives to the medicine.

The generic name is the official medical name for the active ingredient of the medicine. The brand name is chosen by the manufacturer, usually on the basis that it can be recognised, pronounced and remembered by health professionals and members of the public. An example would be Viagra - this is the well-known brand name given by Pfizer to the generic medicine sildenafil. (Brand names are capitalised; generic names are not.) About 10-12 years after a new medicine is introduced, the patent (exclusive rights) runs out, and then other drug manufacturers are allowed to produce it. These are often cheaper than the original brand, and may be sold under the generic name or new brand names.

A generic medicine is typically 20% to 80% less expensive than the brand-name original. In addition, the availability of lower-priced generic medicines brings down the price of originator drugs through market competition, producing even further savings to patients. The use of generic medicines saves European patients and healthcare systems an estimated _13 billion each year and also plays an important role in the developing world by providing cheaper treatments to many millions of people. Allowing effective competition between generic medicines and patent-expired original brands is crucial to lowering pharmaceutical costs and stimulating innovation. However, this said, there are many troubling issues surrounding generic medicines due to the easy access to an abundance of illegal generics on the internet breaking the patent ownership and the unregulated companies that produce and supply them.

While generic medicines should be approved equivalent versions of trusted medicines, providing the same quality, safety and efficacy as the original, this is often not the case. A generic drug should undergo strict scrutiny before it is licensed and given market approval by national medicines authorities. In short, generic medicines should comply with the same strict standards of quality, safety and efficacy as original pharmaceutical products. The lucrative business of selling generic drugs such as Viagra on the internet has led to the establishment of many small backyard operations in developing countries, operating with low overhead and labour costs and no regulatory oversight.. Where there is currently one western company "Pfizer" making the original, branded Viagra, there are literally over a hundred companies making generic versions The lack of an independent monitory organization means that there is a high probability that the treatment will not work or could even prove detrimental to one's health.