How many of us want or use generic AEDs?some dont think theres a difference,but there wrong.soon we all may need them!

The following is a transcript of a report by medical editor Marilyn Brooks that first aired Sept. 12, 2007, on WTAE Channel 4 Action News at 5 p.m. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There is important news surfacing about generic drugs. They drugs cost less, but some brands aren't as effective, which is especially true for people with epilepsy. The issue is so big that the Epilepsy Foundation has been campaigning for bills in state legislatures across the country. They want to make it tougher for pharmacists to switch epilepsy patients from brand name drugs to inexpensive generics. Neurological testing has been a part of Scott Prosser's life since he developed encephalitis at age 8. It left him with four brain lesions that generate epileptic seizures. Three brand name anti-seizure drugs kept them under control until one went generic. "The insurance company said they changed their reimbursement structure, and they say that the generic is an OK replacement for the Clonipin," said Scott's mother, Ruth Prosser. That's not quite true though, and patients like Scott are proof. After unknowingly taking the generic, Scott's seizures got worse and more frequent. Many patients experience the same reaction with generic brands. Their difficulty stems directly from their anti-seizure medications, not the brand name that physicians order, rather the generic versions the insurance companies automatically switch them to. All patients are led to believe that generics are exactly the same as the brand name, but the truth of the matter is that they are not and therein lies danger. "If you're seizure-free for more than six months on a brand name medicine and you get switched to a generic medicine that may change your level, the concentration in your blood stream that may put you at risk and again," said one doctor. If it happens at the wrong time, it can be catastrophic. The catastrophe runs the gamut from drowning in bathtubs to having car accidents to falling down stairs. Doctors said there are several reasons generics don't always work, including the fact that generics don't absorb as well as brand name drugs. Doctors said the active ingredient might be 80 to 120 percent of the brand name, so patients can get 20 percent more or 20 percent less medicine in their blood stream. Doctors also said not all generics are the same. Pennsylvania House Bill 98 might help, though. It says that brand names can't be substituted with a generic epilepsy medication without prior notification and a signed informed consent of doctor and patient. The bill was sent to Committee in January, but there has been no word on it since. Without Clonipin, Scott has seizures every eight hours, his mother said. She said until the drug is covered by the insurance company again, she has to shell out $235 a month for the brand name.