should so called "copy-cat drugs" for instance ramipril enalapril captopril be removed from the market too? because all they are are basically exactly the same drug with a minor modification which in turn increases a price by ridiculous amounts for possibly no change in efficacy?
Personally, as a taxpayer and consumer, a reasonable answer would be "yes", or rather they shouldn't have been approved as new prescription drugs in the first place - so what if they have a few different atoms in their structure - if they don't offer significant improvements over currently available drugs in their class why allow BP to essentially extend patents and continue to gouge the health care system and patients pockets? Obviously not the case with Vascepa vs. Lovaza, since their are huge differences in their relative efficacy and side effects/benefits.
I'm quite familiar with a variety of BP drugs, unfortunately, and many of them have sneaky side effects that in folks with some admittedly rare or uncommon medical conditions. I discovered several months ago that the Ramipril prescribed by my cardiologist years ago for occasional stress/allergy related BP issues was actually causing more harm than good! Won't bore everyone else with the details, but Ramipril and other ACE inhibitors increase levels of Bradykinins, which put additional stress on the lungs, often causing the "dry cough" associated with ACEIs.
Another severe side effect of them is renal impairment, a significant adverse effect of all ACE inhibitors, which along with commonly co-prescribed diuretics can cause renal artery stenosis. My Dad was recently diagnosed with that, luckily in just one kidney - I had previously warned him of the potential dangers after he was hospitalized several times for extremely high BP and dehydration, but he decided to listen to his dumb doctors and discovered the hard way that I had been right all along.
When I learned about all that bad stuff about ACEIs I had my doctor switch me to Losartan, an angiotensin II receptor antagonist, which just became generic 6 months ago (insurance had previously refused to pay for the brand names), and I immediately noticed a drop in lung stress - the ACEI was actually making my BP problems WORSE, not better, and Dad is on Losartan as well now, and finally ditched the diuretics, so he's doing much better too, thank god.
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