What to do when a generic antibiotic does not work

Q: I have no confidence that any generic drug actually contains its active ingredient in the right amount and is not contaminated. I recently had bronchitis and took the generic antibiotic doxycycline. It had no effect.

Then I read the People’s Pharmacy article about authorized generics and got the authorized generic of doxycycline. That worked! Amazing. Recently, my pharmacy told me that the authorized generic of doxycycline has been discontinued.

The new book “Bottle of Lies,” by Katherine Eban, is a wellresearched story of how Food and Drug

Administration inspectors in India and China found repeated pharmaceutical company deception, failure and contamination. The FDA repeatedly failed to take action.

Generic drugs were a great idea, an appropriate public service. That idea has been corrupted by greed and helped along by FDA inaction. Americans no longer benefit; it seems that only the brandname pharma companies benefit from the current situation.

A: Authorized generic drugs are made with the same “recipe” as their brand-name counterparts. Sometimes they are even made on the same factory line. We encourage people to request an authorized generic if they have concerns about their medication.

We are glad you found Katherine Eban’s book helpful. We recommend it highly for anyone who wants to understand the problems with generic drugs.

One pharmacy that tests every lot of medicine it dispenses is www. Valisure.com. That way, you can be assured there are no contaminants and that the product contains the right amount of medicine.

Q: I take Trelegy daily for COPD. This drug has made me hoarse, but I am reluctant to take more medicine to treat a side effect. Is there a natural remedy?

A: Trelegy is an inhaler that contains three medications: fluticasone, umeclidinium and vilanterol. Fluticasone is a corticosteroid drug that can cause hoarseness when it is inhaled. Unfortunately, the only sure-fire way to overcome the hoarseness is to discontinue the drug. Since you need the medicine for your COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), dropping the drug is not an option.

The manufacturer suggests that you rinse your mouth after using the inhaler. That may somewhat reduce the likelihood of hoarseness.