Groups advocate alerting doctors, patients before switching to generic medicine.

Bloomberg News (2/11, Pettypiece) reports that “the Epilepsy Foundation of America and other patient-advocacy groups are pressing lawmakers in at least 33 states to stop pharmacies from substituting generic drugs for the originals before patients and their doctors are alerted to the changes” after they received “more than 1,000” reports of patients suffering epileptic seizures after having their medicine switched to a generic version. Generic drugs can cost up to “70 percent less than the originals,” causing some states, insurers, and employers to “insist that pharmacists fill patients’ prescriptions with a generic to save money.” And “while routine switching of drugs may make sense for many patients, a growing number with epilepsy, depression, heart disease, and transplanted organs have suffered side effects after getting generic substitute,” according to some medical associations. “Generic-drug makers and health insurers say anecdotal evidence falls short of definitive proof that differences between generic medicines and the originals cause side effects,” but four states have already “passed measures that stop pharmacies from automatically switching customers on prescription medicines to generics.”