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Dilantin vs Phenytoin What in the world???
Sun, 01/10/2010 - 20:49I am overly concerned and would like answers. Why are there so many posts of people having to switch from name brand Dilantin to Phenytoin and having seizure. I have been seizure free on Dilantin and when my insurance company United Health Care decided they wanted to save money and change me to Phenytoin, I had a seizure. This to me is playing with someones like and it makes me concerned. If I Google Dilantin vs Phenytoin, people are having seizures because insurance companies want to save money.
Who approves the medication to be the same thing as the name brand? Who in the HELL are they? I talked to a pharmacist about the differences in medications and she told me that Phenytoin and Dilantin are made with different binders....THEY WORD IS DIFFERENT SHE TOLD ME HERSELF. So, the body absorbs the medication differently. This is all about money and not really saving peoples lives and keeping them seizure free. I see the FDA approves medications. What gives them the right to approve a medication that does not do that same job as a brand name. Is Phenytoin not a Neurological medication. Should the government or the FDA approve such a medication to replace Dilantin, as I said before the Pharmacist said its different and thousands upon thousands of people are having seizures from Phenytoin.
Anyone want to elaborate on the for me and give me a good enough reason to not be concerned. Give me a good enough FDA story on how these meds are the same........They are NOT and it pisses me off and its playing with my life, and if one day I switch because my insurance wont cover Dilantin...and I have a seizure while driving my baby to the Doctor.
Someone will answer real fast...........................
Comments
Re: Dilantin vs Phenytoin What in the world???
Submitted by oki on Tue, 2010-01-19 - 13:37
Re: Dilantin vs Phenytoin What in the world???
Submitted by bethsbunch on Mon, 2010-01-11 - 21:06
My husband had the same problem. He was doing fine on Dilantin, switched to generic and started having breakthrough seizures left and right. After a trip to the ER and a huge medical bill he decided to switch back to the name brand and has been doing much better. What was so frustrating was that everyone one we asked, ER doc, pharmacists, paramedic, etc said the drugs were exactly the same thing. It was only when we spoke to his neurologist did he say that they weren't.
My husband had the same problem. He was doing fine on Dilantin, switched to generic and started having breakthrough seizures left and right. After a trip to the ER and a huge medical bill he decided to switch back to the name brand and has been doing much better. What was so frustrating was that everyone one we asked, ER doc, pharmacists, paramedic, etc said the drugs were exactly the same thing. It was only when we spoke to his neurologist did he say that they weren't.
Re: Dilantin vs Phenytoin What in the world???
Submitted by scorpio on Mon, 2010-01-11 - 17:18
What in the world indeed! Your insurance company would seem to be incredibly mean. Phenytoin/Dilantin was first used for epi in the 1940s and the patent has long since expired. In the UK the drug is marketed as ''Epanutin'' rather than ''Dilantin'' and, according to the (2008) National Health Service's annual Prescription Cost Analysis (the official breakdown of NHS expenditure on drugs), a 100mg capsule cost about 3.3p, or less than 2 US cents each. Generics are certainly cheaper but how cheap can you get? By contrast, the 100mg tablets of Lamictal (Lamotrigine), the drug I take, cost the NHS c. £1.30 - each.
Your pharmacist is correct about the physical diffferences (binders) between generic versions of patented drugs and the different effects these have on anyone taking them but latter are hardly worth risking if the cost savings are so insignificant.
Might you consider using the services of another insurance company?
Chris
What in the world indeed! Your insurance company would seem to be incredibly mean. Phenytoin/Dilantin was first used for epi in the 1940s and the patent has long since expired. In the UK the drug is marketed as ''Epanutin'' rather than ''Dilantin'' and, according to the (2008) National Health Service's annual Prescription Cost Analysis (the official breakdown of NHS expenditure on drugs), a 100mg capsule cost about 3.3p, or less than 2 US cents each. Generics are certainly cheaper but how cheap can you get? By contrast, the 100mg tablets of Lamictal (Lamotrigine), the drug I take, cost the NHS c. £1.30 - each.
Your pharmacist is correct about the physical diffferences (binders) between generic versions of patented drugs and the different effects these have on anyone taking them but latter are hardly worth risking if the cost savings are so insignificant.
Might you consider using the services of another insurance company?
Chris