I'm sorry, I can't answer your question except to say, when my DD's Neurologist prescribed Concerta for her, he made a point of saying he is usually all for generics, but not with Concerta. He specifically said to stick with the name brand for this one medication. It was back in May and although I remember he told me what his reasoning was, I can't remember it at this time. Concerta didn't work for DD, so we were only on it for 10 days anyway.
Sorry, I know this really doesn't help you.
Although there is no approved generic for concerta yet, there is a generic for concerta pending with the FDA (from IMPAX labs). The patent suit was just dismissed. A generic by a different company (McNeil) appears to be in the works as well:
http://www.genengnews.com/news/bnitem.aspx?name=6443692
You can watch for new drug approvals at this site:
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/drugsatfda/
Hope this helps.
I do not think that there is a generic for Concerta, my pharm is always pretty good at asking me if I want generics...call a pharmacy and ask...they should be able to tell you if there is.
My son is doing very well on Concerta. It happens to be the first drug that we tried. There are just a few small issues that we are looking to correct at our next doctor's appointment.
There is not a generic for Concerta yet, as it still has patent protection. A drug can be on patent for 10 years before the patent expires. At the time the patent expires, generics may be manufactured.
If you are finding generic Concerta on-line, it is a fake! Don't buy it!!
Thank you for the replies. Mamabear, our Dr said the same thing about no generic for Concertta as the 'real thing' is best. We agreed. It was just the last few weeks someone mention the generic. I found the information and it was actually generic for Ritalin. It is called Methylin. Concertta is working great for our son so we won't be switching to Ritalin/Methylin.
Thank you again for the replies.