 
Saving Money$ while buying Non-Prescription Drugs
Because I am now retired and living on half a Social Security Retirement
Check (other half
supports an ex-wife), and because I have a Medical Degree and Public
Health Degree, I
myself put in practice the advice I am here offering to you! ...Rich
people may not find any
of this useful, but the rest of you might find it allows you more money
for groceries, etc.
Having written the other Advice about protective drugs and foods for
those on a limited
budget, and posting it on the Internet as an MLM opportunity, I was standing
in line at the
local WalMart one day waiting to check out, and noted that the lady behind
me had two
large packages of Benedryl and several other items to check out. ...I
said to her, "Has
spring pollen gotten to you?" ...She said, "If I work in my
yard today, by this evening I
will be so stuffed up I can hardly breathe!" ..."Also I'm allergic
to beans!" ...I said, "You
can get the same medicine as Benedryl here at WalMart for about 1/2 what
you are
paying for these packages labeled 'Benedryl'" ....She was genuinely
surprized, so I
showed her where to look for the Drug Name, and ignore the Brand Name,
so next time
she could have her medicine and buy some 'beans' or seeds or garden supplies
with the
money she saved. ...Obviously many people are in need of similar Advice!
Today (March 10, 2000), I went back to WalMart with some paper and a
pencil and
spent some time in the Drug and Health Products Department marking down
price
comparisons between Brand Name products and WalMart's generic equivalents.
After
a few minutes a clerk asked me, "Can I find you something?"
I said, "No, I'm just
comparing prices." In 10 or 15 minutes, another clerk did the same
thing. After about
an hour, a superviser appeared and asked, "Are you doing this for
your own information,
or for another store?" She seemed reasured when I told her it was
not for another store!
I've discovered that people seem to understand that Rubbing Alcohol is
still Isopropyl
Alchol no matter whose "Brand" is on it, and that sticks with
cotton tips can work just
as well if they aren't labelled as "Q-tips"....and that Baby
Oil need not be a Brand Name.
However, once we get into non-prescription Pain Medicine, Allergy Medicine,
Laxitives,
Sleep Aids, Antacids, etc. perhaps the majority of people are afraid
to substitute the
store brand, or a "generic" brand for something they may have
originally been prescribed
by a doctor, or was suggested in a doctor's office. Let me assure you
there is no "MAGIC"
in these Brand Names, and exactly the same medicine is available for
the lower price....
In perhaps the vast majority of cases, the Brand Name and the Generic
"equivalent" are
indeed made by the same manufacturer under identical conditions and similar
quality
control.... In the next few minutes I will show you how you can confirm
that this is so!
I will use WalMart and their usual generic drugs and health products
EQUATE, although
any other store and their particular generic brands will work just as
well. ...A few general
principles and some examples should do it....I don't have the time, and
you don't have
the patience for a long philosophical discussion or a Course in Medical
Biochemistry!
How You can TELL that EQUATE products are EXACTLY the
SAME as the Brand Name Products (Usually Next to them
at
the WalMart store).....
1) "EQUATE" means "equal" or "similar
to". ...The word comes from
the same root as "equation". As in ALGEBRA,
A=1, B=2, A+B=3, etc.
2) "EQUATE" products will usually say, somewhere
on the package,
what Brand Name product they are "similar to"
or "equal to". This Brand
Name will be given exactly, by the Brand Name itself. ...This is as much
of a clue as
the manufacturer will allow, that they indeed MAKE both products, the
generic at
half price or less, and exactly the same product at the regular price,
ALWAYS MORE.
3) To confirm that both products are the SAME, either pick
up both
packages at the store, or visually do the same thing, comparing
the
following items, item by item! Drug Name, strength,
pills capsules or liquid, number
or amount per container, medical actions of product, warnings of interactions,
etc. In
almost every case these will be IDENTICAL, showing you by the repetition
that both
containers not only contain the same chemicals (medication) but were
packaged by the
same factory using similar quality control. ...What will be DIFFERENT
will be that
whereas one is called by that Oh-so-familiar Brand Name (i.e. "Benedryl"),
the other,
at half the cost, will be called EQUATE Allergy Medicine--Antihistamine,
(or
whatever else you are comparing). ..And when you open the bottle at home,
each capsule
or pill WILL NOT have the familiar number or TradeMark of the drug company
on it...
4) In the end, the really important thing is that the active
ingredients
MUST BE identical! In our Benedryl example, on each
bottle the identical active
ingredient is Diphenhydramine hydrochloride 25 mg. ...Both bottles, Benedryl
and
Equate Allergy Medication--Antihistamine say clearly that each capsule
contains
Diphenhydramine hydrochloride 25 mg. ...If you UNDERSTAND THIS, you are
ready to REAP THE BENEFITS of saving money! ...Today at WalMart 48 capsules
of Benedryl cost $5.44, while 48 capsules of EQUATE Allergy Medication--
Antihistamine cost $2.97...(approx. 1/2 as much). BOTH are Diphenhydramine
hcl,
25 mg, both are made in the same factory, and both will do exactly the
same thing to
your body (provided, of course, you know and believe it's the same medicine).
A short list of Examples (Not intended to be comprehensive)...
Unisom (Also Diphenhydramine, but 50 mg) .....EQUATE
Sleep-Aid Liqucaps
32 caps .....$7.82 ................................................32
....$4.34
Sudafed (Pseudoephedrine hcl)...........................EQUATE
Suphedrine
24 tabs ......$3.62 .................................................24
....$1.56 (less than 1/2 )
Dimetapp 12-hr extentabs ..............................EQUATE
Diprom
24 tabs .......$8.27..................................................24
....$3.94
Actifed ................................................................EQUATE
Antihistamine--Cold-Allergy
24 tabs ........$4.38.................................................24
....$1.94
Robitussin Cold (non-drowsy)........................EQUATE
Cold (non-drowsy)
Severe Congestion ............................................Severe
Congestion
12 ...............$3.97 ................................................12
.......$1.84
Bayer Aspirin (325 mg)......................................EQUATE
Aspirin (325 mg)
50 tab.......$3.47....................................................100
tab....$.97...300 tab $2.37
(You could buy today, at WalMart, 500 EQUATE Aspirin for $3.47, exactly
the same
price as 50 Bayer Aspirin, making the Brand Name Aspirin 10 times (1000%)
as much!)
Bayer low strength adult .......................................EQUATE
low strength adult
Enteric coated Aspirin (81 mg)......................................Enteric
coated Aspirin (81 mg)
120 tab.....$5.96..........................................................120
tab ....$2.97
Advil (Ibprofen 200 mg)..............................................EQUATE
Ibprofen 200 mg.
50 tab ......$4.78...........................................................50
tab .....$1.96
(You could buy today, at WalMart. 500 tabs of EQUATE Ibprofen 200 mg
for $7.97,
less than twice what 50 Advil 200 mg would cost, making the Brand Name
Ibprofen
about 5 times (500%) as much!)
Zantac 75 (Ranitidine)..........................................EQUATE
Acid Reducer (Ranitidine)
30 tabs....$8.27.......................................................30
tabs ....$4.94
Tagemet HB 200 (Cimetidine)............................EQUATE
Cimetidine 200 mg
50 tabs ...$12.97...70 tab...$16.47..........................60 tabs
...$6.97
(The difference in packaging here may indicate different manufacturer.)
Colace (docusate sod. 100 mg)..............................EQUATE
Stool Softener (docusate)
30 cap $8.94...60 cap $15.74..................................120
cap ...$3.37
Peri-Colace (Casanthol&docusate)........................EQUATE
Stool Sof & Laxative
30 cap $10.96..........................................................120 cap ...$4.57
NOTE: Wherever I have used the Brand Names (WalMart,
Bayer, and the familiar
Trade-Marked Medication Names) you should understand
these are Trade Marks
protected by law, and the legal property of the
Drug Companies who own these
Trade Marks, and of WalMart Corporation.....Used
here for comparison and
explanation only....No INDORSEMENT of any of these
products implied!
Robert F. Holt, MD, MPH.....March 10, 2000
..................................................................................................................................
YOU MAY PRINT OUT THE ABOVE ADVICE FREE OF CHARGE, USE IT
YOURSELF, AND GIVE COPIES TO YOUR FRIENDS.....My benefit, advertising
for my Web-site, www.healthark.com.....
......OR: You can use it as a money-making
MLM Opportunity....As Follows!
...................................................................................................................................
To use this advice FREE TO YOU, as an Income Opportunity, go to
the Internet, and
in your Browser address window write in any of the following ... http//www.healthark.com/ark6.htm
...OR http://www.healthark.com/ark7.htm ...OR http://www.healthark.com/mlmop11.htm
....................................................................................................................................
THIS PAGE HAS BEEN KEPT SIMPLE SO YOU CAN GO TO "FILE" ON
YOUR
BROWSER, PRINT OUT THE PAGE, AND USE IT!
......................................................................................................................................
If you live in North Carolina, and wish to REFILL Medications you
are now taking,
Change expensive Brand Name Medications to GENERIC MEDICATIONS, or
try
new medications your Specialist Doctor is unfamiliar with (Viagra,
Zyban, Prilosec,
Relafen, etc.)...You may wish to Click Introducing...the
INTERNET Family Doctor!
...........................................................................................................................................
IF YOU DECIDE THIS IS NOT FOR YOU, but wish to recommend it to a friend
or
acquaintence, we accept referrals, and will offer them this same opportunity.
Contact Us Below to Refer Someone Else!
....
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