Walgreens Sent Me Generic Propecia!
Hello Doctor,
I’ve always enjoyed reading your blog. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
I’ve been getting my Propecia delivered in the mail via Walgreens for quite some time. I’ve always taken the Merck brand, but was surprised to see my refill was something called “Dr. Reddy’s Finasteride” made by an Indian company. The cost for 90 tablets was $183, which seems a bit high for generic.
Walgreen’s never notified me that they were changing my prescription from Merck to Dr. Reddy. Also, I’m concerned with the shipping of this product overseas and the possible very hot climate in transit. If the temperature in transit were to get into the 90’s or higher, it could be problematic for the medication.
I’d love to hear your opinion on this new generic brand that seems to be out on the market and what we should expect as a cost for a generic version. Thank you!
We previously wrote about the generic Propecia finally being sold in the US in a couple of posts —
The cost will remain on the higher side for at least 6 months, because Dr. Reddy’s has an exclusive window to sell the generic 1mg finasteride. Once other manufacturers are able to sell their generics, I would expect the price to come down.
Dr. Reddy’s is an Indian pharmaceutical company, but they do have manufacturing facilities in the US (I’m not sure which facility their finasteride is made in, though). I would think safeguards are in place during shipping of medication to maintain proper temperatures in transit, and everything that they do is over-viewed by the FDA.
Propecia: A lot of side effects. Don’t work. Good Luck.
Read the product label summarizing incidence of side effects and efficacy from clinical trials, not blogger anecdotes: few and minor side effects, and works ( over placebo) in most but of course not all patients. Science.
Please if there http://www.propeciahelp.com is because there are millions of side effects. If the FDA warned irreversible side effects in some cases it’s true … Propecia is crap so clear and doctors should do something, more research, more work, innovation, what a shame the global dermatology.
So what about the people it does work for? Are their results just to be ignored?
If you look on your Propecia bottle (Merck produced Propecia) it says right on the bottle “Active Ingredient Finasteride: Made in UK” or “Active Ingredient Finasteride: Made In Italy”.
All my bottles of Propecia say the active ingredient (Finasteride) is made in either Italy or the UK. This is U.S. Propecia purchased in CVS in NYC.
Thus the notion that Merck is safer because it’s US made (as I used to think) really isn’t true. Merck produces the very thing that makes Propecia what it is (finasteride) in foreign countries. It says it right on the bottle.
I was immediately concetned when Walgreens did likewise with me. “Dr. Reddy’s”? In India? Seemed like a bad joke; I had images in my head of a tin shack somewhere in a crowded Indian village with a crooked signed with “Dr. Reddy” painted on it.
The guy behind the counter or on the phone will always tell you that “there is no difference but the price”, but this is WRONG. There are many documented cases where generics differ in significant ways from there brand counterparts, and a good, knowledgable doctor or pharmacist will tell you this.
In the case of this generic propecis from Dr Reddy’s, one definite difference is that it lacks Merck’s protective coating, which makes these extremely dangerous for pregmant women to touch (can cause birth defects). Of course, I only found this out after I had been taking it for three months, because I din’t need see my doctor to renew my prescription over that period of time. If I had a pregnant wife during that time and she handled those pills, the consequences could have been tragic; I predict lawsuits here.
Additionally, it is most decidedly NOT as effective as Merck’s. I feared this might be the case, but took Dr. Reddy’s for three months anyway. I had been using Merck’s for over ten years with excellent results. After three months of using Dr. Reddy’s, I noticed significant thinning in both the crown and temple area I hadn’t seen in years. I am now back on Merck’s and hope the disatrius consequencw of uisng this cheapo third world substitute can be reversed.
Any lawyers in the house? :)
typo: concetned = CONCERNED
I read Dr Reddys Finasteride from India has 6 month licence or patten to sell it as generic in the U.S. before other generic versions will come on the market and drive the cost even lower. Personally Dr Reddys Generic has made my balls ache more since I switched to it while Merk Propecia gave me no problems. Personally I trust Italy or UK to make drugs safely. Indian companies I am not so confident in. Personally I will go back to Merk propecia and wait for another generic company to come out with its product before switching again. Kind of bugs me to that the merk pill and Indian pill are so so different in size.