Many Americans take more than one daily prescription and when doing so, they often rely on the color of the pills to know that they are sticking to their medication schedules. It can be as easy as knowing that every morning they must take one blue pill and one white pill, for example.
When switching to generic drugs, however, using a color-coded rule of thumb isn’t always that easy. And that’s because often times, generic drugs are a different color than their brand-name counterparts.
According to an article published by WRAL.com, a media outlet covering the Raleigh, Durham and Fayetteville area, “generic drugs are used for more than 70 percent of prescription medications Americans take every year. They’re popular because they’re less expensive than brand names, but a new study found that many people don’t take them as prescribed.”
In the article, findings from the mentioned study, conducted by the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, were revealed. In it, researchers found that “when generic pills look different than brand name ones, patients are 50 percent more likely to stop taking them.”
So until generic medication and brand-name medication can come in a uniform color, shape or size, it’s incredibly important for patients to be aware of the situation. Talking to a doctor or pharmacist when taking any prescription medication is always essential. And therefore, it is equally important to ask questions when pills are administered in an unfamiliar or inconsistent manner.