Physician and pharmacist perceptions of generic medicines: what they think and how they differ.

Introduction: This study is the first comparative assessment, internationally, of perceptions of generic medicines between general practitioners (GPs) and pharmacists in at least the last decade.

Methodology: One-to-one semi-structured interviews were performed with 34 GPs and 44 community pharmacists in Ireland. Interviews were transcribed and qualitative analyses were performed using NVivo (version 9).

Results: GPs expressed more negative opinions than pharmacists. 94.1% of GPs and 88.6% of pharmacists reported receiving complaints from patients related to generics. 11.8% of GPs versus 2.3% of pharmacists believed generics do not work as well as originators. More than twice as many GPs (14.7%) as pharmacists (6.8%) expressed a preference for the originator medication. Participants believed that most negative experiences reported by patients (with generic medicines) were not actual but imagined/nocebo.

Discussion: Education of stakeholders is a requirement for increased usage of generics. Resources to facilitate healthcare professionals in educating patients are needed. GPs' opinions could negatively influence patient opinions; countering these opinions may prove important for successful influencing of patient perceptions.