* * Anonymous Doc

Monday, October 3, 2011

"I need a new prescription, but I don't want the generic this time."

"It's the same thing. I'm just trying to save you money. The generic is going to be a lot less expensive."

"Everyone says that, but they're not the same."

"It's the same exact chemical formula."

"The shape of the pill is completely different."

"The shape of the pill doesn't matter."

"Come on. The generic is this little tiny pill. The regular is like three times the size. That means there's a lot more medicine in it."

"That's not what it means. It just means the pill is bigger. The amount of medicine is the same."

"That doesn't make any sense. Isn't the whole pill medicine?"

"Some of the pill is just innocuous ingredients to make it into a pill you can swallow. The shape and size is not important."

"What about the color? The generic is a totally different color."

"The color doesn't matter."

"I don't like green drugs. That's the color of mold."

"The drug is not green. The color of the pill does not matter. The pills aren't moldy."

"Well, I don't care what you're saying. I don't want the generic."

"I can give you the brand name. But I promise you it's a waste of money."

"Don't worry about that. I'm probably not going to fill it anyway."

"What? Why not?"

"I don't like the way it tastes."

2 comments:

  1. Just discovered this blog today, and have been reading through it (oh, procastination...) - have thought of commenting a number of times, but for some reason this is the first post that actually got me to do it.
    Mostly just to say that odd as it may be, placebo effect means that there's a fairly good chance that the more expensive, non-green drug will actualy be more helpful to this person, even though it's chemically the same as the generic version. I suppose you know that already. Still, wanted to mention that - just because, y'know, our brains are such a strange and wonderful thing, aren't they?

    (Also, really enjoying the blog. Thank you for writing it.)

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  2. If he's not going to fill it, why does he care if he gets brand?

    ReplyDelete