question for Al

[joy]

I was wondering, is there a difference between coumadin and warfarin? I had been taking the coumadin for 3 years now, and my insurance company won't pay for it, I have to take warfarin now...I have been told that when you switch between the two, it can do funny things to your INR, is that true?

 

[Ross]

Your INR will stay in range better if you use Coumadin instead of generic warfarin. I hear this one over and over and it never ceases to amaze me. There has never been a study that showed that this was true. Think about how many things can affect the INR - food, vitamins, other drugs, exercise, missing a dose, taking an extra dose, alcohol consumption and on and on and on. When DuPont owned the trademark for Coumadin they lost a huge lawsuit and had to give refunds to people because they had the sales reps saying this. I would be worried about putting my life in the hands of any doctor who believes this old rubbish.


From Al's site. Joy you need to venture over there and do some reading.
www.warfarinfo.com

 

[Valve-Viking]

As to my understanding, warfarin is the name of the substance,
Coumadin is just the brandname. It is just like penicillin comes in various
brands from various producers.

Where I live there is not such thing as "Coumadin", it is all called "Waran". Does the trick too!

/
Martin

 

[Guest]

The entire country of Israel switched to generic. There does not seem to have been much problem.

The idea that there is a difference seems to have been invented by the marketing department of Du Pont when they knew that generic was coming. They even got some states to enact laws saying that there was a difference. Doctors who say that there is a difference probably get their continuing education from sales reps and not well done studies.

If your insurance company thought that it would cost them $1.00 extra for lab tests etc, they would insist that you not change.

 

[Marty]

A myth

A myth

Its difficult to disavow a myth. After my surgery, my cardiologist ( not a dumb guy, by the way) told me his patients on Coumadin all stayed on the number, while his patients on the generic were " all over the place". This is a myth believed by many otherwise smart people. I tried Taro generic for three months and had no problems whatsoever. However I went back to Coumadin because I liked the color and shape of the pills. The 30 cent increased cost per pill doesn't bother me but it might some people with heavy pharmacy bills.None of the new Medicare Part D plans will offer Coumadin

 

[Guest]

Very interesting about Medicare Part D, Marty.

Up until about 1998, I also believed that Coumadin was superior to warfarin. Then the reports started coming in from HMOs that compared costs for meds, labs etc. The generic always won. I was getting paid by DuPont to give talks about Coumadin but when the evidence started coming in, I could no longer stand in front of a group and say that Coumadin was better when they had not been shown to be in even one test. So I killed the goose that laid the golden egg but at least I was at peace with myself.