Are Generic Drugs Really Inferior Medicines?

In this issue Gagne et al . report an elegant case‐crossover study of seizures in patients on antiepileptic drugs. They found that a dispensation episode approximately triples the risk of having a seizure within 21 days, but the risk is not statistically different whether the dispensation was of the same brand‐name or generic drug as previously used or a switch from brand‐name to a generic or from a generic to a brand name. The cause of the seizure might be a delay in taking medication or late redispensation, among others, but apparently the nature of the product dispensed is not relevant in this study; this may alleviate some of the concerns about generic drugs and epilepsy. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics (2010) 88 3, 302–304. doi: 10.1038/clpt.2010.168