Generic vs Brand Name Statins: Which Boasts Better Adherence Rates?

Patients who took generic statins were more likely to adhere to prescribed medication and had a lower risk of cardiovascular events and death compared to those taking a brand name statin, according to a recent study.

In order to determine whether patients are more adherent to generic statins versus brand name statins such as lovastatin, pravastatin, or simvastatin, researchers measured and compared statin regimen adherence and hospitalization data from 83,731 participants beginning prescriptions for generic statins and 6380 who started brand name statins between 2006 and 2008.
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The study showed that patients using generic statins had an 8% lower risk of cardiovascular events or mortality, and were more likely to adhere to their therapy regimen compared to brand-name statin users.

Investigators noted that a higher copayment yielded lower adherence to statin use, which was consistent to the findings of other studies. The mean generic statin copayment was $10 and the mean brand-name copayment was $48

The complete study is published in the September issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.

-Michelle Canales

References:

Gagne JJ, Choudhry NK, Kesselheim AS, et al. Comparative effectiveness of generic and brand-name statins on patient outcomes: a cohort study. Ann Intern Med. 2014 July [epub ahead of print] doi: 10.7326/M13-2942.

Brigham and Women’s Hospital. What’s more effective: generic or brand-name statins? September 15, 2014. www.brighamandwomens.org/about_bwh/publicaffairs/news/pressreleases/PressRelease.aspx?sub=0&PageID=1867. Accessed September 16, 2014.