Is Generic Atorvastatin as Good as Lipitor?
All generic medications must undergo certain tests to compare them to brand-name medications. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) then looks at these tests to decide if the generics are equivalent to the brand-name medications and assigns a rating to each one.
An "AB" rating means that the FDA has determined that a generic medication is equivalent to a brand-name medication. All of the generic versions of
Lipitor currently available have an "AB" rating, meaning they should be equivalent to Lipitor.
However, generic medications are allowed to have different inactive ingredients than the brand-name medication. This might include fillers, dyes, or other ingredients that may cause problems for people with
allergies or sensitivities.
Is My Insurance Company Confused?
In a highly controversial (but not unusual) move, the manufacturer of Lipitor made deals with pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to allow brand-name Lipitor to be covered by insurances as a generic and to not cover the generic versions at all. While initially this appears to be beneficial (or at least not harmful) for consumers, in the long run, it might be quite costly for the healthcare system in general.
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