Are Generic Brands, Brand Names Equal?

Every day, they do battle in the drug aisle: national brands versus generics.

That familiar name costs more, but does it give you the bang for the buck?

You could buy Advil caplets for 17-cents each at the Missouri City Kroger.

Or you could reach for the store brand at four-cents each, a savings of nearly 80-percent.

Is there really any difference? Shoppers can only surmise.

"I think that everything inside of it is the same," said Jennessa Hendrickson. "It's done with the same quality and procedures, so might as well go with the thing that's going to cost us less."

Her instincts are correct, said Lance Campbell, a compounding pharmacist who builds custom medicines from scratch.

"My family, we only use generic products because in a compounding realm, we're always taking an active ingredient and building what we need."

When a generic product compares itself to a name brand, says Campbell, it's the active ingredient that's comparable.

"Let's take an example of Benadryl," he said. "Benadryl has an active ingredient of diphenhydramine. If you get a generic equivalent, it's going to be cheaper, a lot of times three-quarters of the price or maybe even half."

So why doesn't everyone buy generic?

Some store brands may have different release mechanisms than their more expensive cousins. And so Campbell has customers who swear the name brand works better or faster.

He said other customers insist on paying the premium when buying medication for their children.

"If someone sees something for their child and it's 14-dollars versus a generic equivalent which is only, say, 10. 'I'm gonna spare no expense for my child, the 14 must be better because it's more expensive, must be something to it,' and they'll spend that money."