Like the Times, we found that both doctors and patients felt passionately that generics weren’t always up to snuff. But despite lots of searching, we couldn’t find a solid, randomized and well-controlled study proving there was a problem. The Epilepsy Foundation and allied doctors acknowledged they didn’t have one either.
The WSJ blog is responding to stories in today’sLos Angeles Times.
The money quote:
After first walking down the same road as the Times, we discovered that major brand-name drug makers were playing a behind-the-scenes role in the debate, encouraging the Epilepsy Foundation to pursue it and even funding some of the lobbying. The same companies just so happened to have big-selling epilepsy drugs going off-patent.