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A Survey of Generic Drug Legislation and Geriatric Pharmacotherapy: Opinions of Those Who Generate the Literature
Author(s) -
MORGAN JOHN P.,
SCHWARTZ LEROY L.,
SHERMAN FREDRICK T.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1983.tb02197.x
Subject(s) - legislation , medicine , context (archaeology) , product (mathematics) , medical prescription , drug , geriatrics , legislature , family medicine , ambivalence , gerontology , pharmacology , psychiatry , psychology , social psychology , law , paleontology , geometry , mathematics , political science , biology
Eighty‐three authors who had published papers within the last five years on pharmacologic therapy in aged humans were surveyed by written questionnaire and their responses analyzed. The survey sought opinions on the scientific, clinical, and social context of legislation on drug product selection (generic legislation) and its relationship to geriatric pharmaco‐therapeutics. The majority of respondents: 1) were generally unaware of the content of the clinical or scientific opinion offered on the subject of drug product selection as part of the legislative process; 2) felt that potential cost savings for elderly people was a factor in advancing this legislation; 3) wrote prescriptions so that product substitution could occur despite their ambivalence about such substitutions and about the knowledge of pharmacist and physician concerning product substitution and drug equivalence for the elderly. Clinical pharmacologists and geriatricians, however, were less likely than other respondents to permit substitution. The implications of current opinions and practices regarding drug product selection for geriatric patients are discussed.