This business of what is approved or not seem to me to be a real can of worms.
Here we have brand name drugs that are approved and under patent, while their generic versions are deemed to be not approved.
But hang on. Pharmacies all over are stocked with generic versions of brand name drugs, many manufactured in India, and nobody is questioning it. Why is that? Is it because the patents on all of them ran out so it's ok to import them now?
Gosh I'm confused. The NHS is practically kept afloat by the use of Indian generics, yet I have never seen any trials run on them or suggestions that they were sub-standard. Were they all considered to be suspect until the patents ran out, at which time they magically became AOK, bona fida, approved?
Is 'approved' in this case just another name for 'patent-protected?
Cos that is an interesting choice of a word which is usually understood to mean a drug which has been tested for safety and efficacy and passed by the FDA.
dt