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American Morning

How Will the Availability of Generic Prozac Affect Consumers?

Aired August 02, 2001 - 11:22   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: Eli Lilly introduced Prozac in the United States in 1987 and since then it's held the patent on the antidepressant. Well, today that patent expires. Why should you care? Well, competing pharmaceutical companies are gearing up to offer up generic versions at much cheaper prices. Prozac can cost consumers about $2.50 a pill. Generics could go for about a quarter a pop.

Prozac currently generates about $3 billion in sales a year for Eli Lilly. The company has one remaining legal move available that could delay generic Prozac. It's not clear whether Eli Lilly will act on that.

Frances Smith is executive director of Consumer Alert and she joins us from Washington to talk more about generic Prozac. Mrs. Smith, thank you for coming in to talk with us. Appreciate it.

FRANCES SMITH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CONSUMER ALERT: Glad to be here.

KELLEY: As you look at this, what do you see as a benefit to consumers at this point? Is it just price?

SMITH: Well, from a consumer standpoint, I think it's going to be mainly price at this time. People will have, as you mentioned, the option of buying the generic drug or buying Prozac if their doctors prescribe it. In some cases, as you know, doctors still prescribe brand name drugs. I don't think we'll see consumers clamoring, put me on Prozac, or put me on generic Prozac. But I do think people who possibly couldn't have afforded it before to treat depression or other psychological problems could now afford it on a regular basis and we may see that happening.

KELLEY: What do you think the testing is when somebody comes in with a generic form of a drug? Do you feel comfortable looking out for consumers that a generic form is as good as the drug?

SMITH: Well, in many cases the generic drugs are different. If they have some sort of additives or whatever, they can be different. But from what I understand about the Prozac and the generic that's being manufactured, it's first going to be 20 milligrams. It's going to be pretty much the same active ingredient. And I don't, from a standpoint of an informed consumer and not a physician and not a pharmaceutical researcher, it looks to me that there's not a big danger in this particular drug.

KELLEY: So you think probably people should ask their doctors questions about this if they're thinking that maybe they should go to the generic form?

SMITH: Correct. I think that's the safest thing to do. People who have been on Prozac and, as you know, many people think of Prozac as the generic antidepressant almost. It's gotten such name recognition. They should ask their doctors, can you switch me to the generic if -- because that's more affordable for me? But, of course, many consumers with co-pay pharmaceutical plans find that they're paying actually very low prices for some name brand pharmaceuticals.

KELLEY: And they can find out if it's as effective and whether or not it will have any side effects for them or be any different from regular Prozac. As you look at this, are you concerned that maybe Prozac could be over used at this point if it does get cheaper? Some people were talking about that earlier in the news room. We were trying to see if maybe symptoms are being treated rather than problems.

SMITH: Well, in some cases if people go to their physician and say put me on Prozac, I think it's up to the physician to really assess whether that person would benefit by it. But I don't think you're going to see this, because it's cheaper, people clamoring to their doctors saying I need an antidepressant. Many people, I think, find antidepressants help them lead normal lives whereas they might not be able to without those drugs.

So I think you'll still see those people actually doing it.

KELLEY: What's your biggest concern for a consumer, then, once this hits the market?

SMITH: Well, I guess the, I don't have any really difficult concerns that aren't addressed by the relationship between a patient and a physician. I think physicians sometimes have been accused of perhaps prescribing some of the drugs like antidepressants to too many people and keeping them on the drugs for too long. So I think, again, there's a co-responsibility between the patient and the physician and the pharmaceutical company as well.

KELLEY: Ask your doctor, like we were saying before.

SMITH: That's right.

KELLEY: Frances Smith is the executive director of Consumer Alert. Thanks very much for joining us.

SMITH: Thank you.

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