Jillian Bealer of Buffalo, N.Y., is a fan of generics and the savings they bring. But she says her faith in their equivalence to brand-name drugs was shaken by a nasty recurrence of depression she suffered recently when she switched to a new generic for Wellbutrin XL.
For three years, Bealer, who has been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder and an anxiety disorder, took 300 milligrams of the antidepressant Wellbutrin XL to stabilize her mood and maintain her focus and attention. It helped her feel like herself, she said, "very outgoing and very upbeat."
But in early November, a new pharmacy refilled her prescription with a large yellow caplet -- a newly approved generic version of Wellbutrin XL identified by its chemical name, Bupropion Hydrochloride XL, and marketed by the generic manufacturing giant Teva under the commercial name Budeprion. The new generic had a smaller co-pay than the branded product under Bealer's employer-provided insurance policy, and the pharmacist assured her that the new pill would work just as well.
Bealer began taking the pill. But as the holiday season approached, she found that her favorite time of year was feeling like "just a burden." For weeks, she didn't answer the phone, didn't go to parties and used up vacation days because she didn't want to get out of bed. She had headaches that made holiday shopping miserable and in spite of a flagging appetite, felt she was gaining weight.
Bealer suspected that the new generic version of Wellbutrin XL wasn't working the way the original had. On a sleepless night in early January, she started combing the Internet to see if other patients might have detected a difference. Bealer discovered she had lots of company -- and some lab evidence to suggest her suspicions were on-base.
"I was just so angry," the 30-year-old pharmaceutical saleswoman said. "I was so miserable . . . I am not the only one who's had these side effects. Something needs to be done, because someone could get really hurt or kill themselves."
Denise Bradley, a spokeswoman for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, said Teva's 300-milligram extended release antidepressant has met the FDA's specifications and performed well in its first year on the U.S. market. As of mid-October, 4.5 million prescriptions had been filled last year, and Teva had received 101 consumer complaints. That rate of concerns expressed, 0.002%, is "consistent with the rate of such reports for all prescription pharmaceuticals," said Bradley.
