Are these medicines better?

[tigwig]

My daughter is just recovering from an illness and I've run out of Nurofen so got the supermarket own brand to try this time as well as their own brand 'Calpol'. Now according to the labels both these products contain exactly the same amount of medicine and in my opinion you pay far more for the brand name and supermarket own brands do the job just as good but hubby disagrees. Is it really better to buy brands? If not why does the instructions on Nurofen differ, eg it says to give a 6yr old 7.5ml but others say only 5ml and not before 6mths! Confusing isn't it?

[237SJ]

I always buy the generic name for the drug and not a brand name. It`s always cheaper and is the same thing

[poodicat]

Agree with 237sj,the generic brand is the exactly the same but not branded,you are going to pay loads more for the branded stuff,you are wasting your money..

[ummmm]

Yep....my next door neighbour was a pharmacist. Own brands only....just check the amount of active ingredient there is. Some named brands are stronger....

[4getmenot]

I think the branded ones dont have the same shop brand for 6 months or something like that. E.g. Bio oil came out as a brand and then 6 months later the shops are allowed to bring out the same thing with exactly same ingredients, you will find no difference but the price

[tigwig]

I'm glad people agree with me! He drives me mad saying own brand stuff isn't as good when if you read the ingredients its exactly the same! He moans about his hayfever tablets, cleaning stuff and yesterday said the ibuprofen wouldn't be as good. Men!

[BertiWooster]

Brand names are no 'better' than generic medications .

It's the ' active ingredient ' thats important .

Whether it's a Brand name or a supermarket one , doesn't matter .

[karenmac60]

I think it's to do with the license. The drug company that originally formulates the medication is licensed to sell it for a year or something, then it goes to the open market where other companies can then manufacture their own version of it under the generic name.