Generic Drugs: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

We're actually going to dive straight in with our main story this week, which concerns medication. It's the subject of this 1980s PSA, where a group of pills try and discourage kids from eating them. >> This is serious. >> We could make you delirious. >> Delirious. >> You should have a healthy fear of us.

>> Fear of [music] us. >> Too much of us is dangerous. >> No. No. No. We're not candy. [music] >> Believe us. >> Even though we look so fine and dandy. When you're sick, [music] we come in handy. But we're not candy. >> Listen, I do appreciate the message there, but unfortunately, I don't think

I've ever wanted to eat a pile of loose pills more. I mean, there are literally candy commercials that have made me want to eat their product less than those adorable singing Skittles. get into my mouth. Specifically, we're going to focus on generic medications. You know, drugs that contain the same active ingredients, dosage, form, strength,

safety, quality, and intended use as their brand name counterparts. Or, as this director of pharmacy services puts it, >> the generic is the same as the brand. There's no difference. The only difference might be in the filler, not the active ingredient. It's that active ingredient that's the same. It's >> the important part.

>> Well, that's the part that does the magic. Yes. Now, I'll be honest. The part that does the magic is a weird enough phrase as is before you realize they chose to use Viagra as the example there, [cheering] forcing all of us to remember that in certain cases, doing the magic could well mean making grandpa

rock hard. But generics are by far the most common type of medication people take in the US. They currently make up more than 90% of all US prescriptions. You may even take them without realizing it. You may have been prescribed Zoloft, but if you look at your bottle, it might say Certillene. That's the generic.