Coming soon to a pharmacy near you: generic pain meds!

In the world of pain management, we have to take the good with the bad. And sometimes with all the treatments we have to make ourselves feel better, the bad part of pain medications out way the good. Their level of toxic-feeling side effects, then the medications we take to lessen those side effects, and of course the price of these medications all add up to their negative points. One insurance company will pay for a medication, where another won’t. When they don’t cover it, you cry at the price. But, it’s always an issue to cry then when you write the check for the pain medication, or cry later when you are rolling on the floor dying in pain at home. With all the endless variables of what is going to work for your condition, you might just as well play the lotto- you might have better luck.

There is hope because this strange field of pain medications and their side effects is going to change sooner than we think. The pain management world is big money business. Which, for us means that they will keep trying new medications and therapies for us. Years ago, Endo labs made a break through with their Lidoderm patch, thus changing the way pain relief was given to a patient. The topical patch gave relief over the course of a day with little to no side effects. Now, Endo is facing the big challenge of the Lidoderm patch coming in generic form. Great for us, less money! Bad for Endo.

The research field will keep advancing in the field of pain management. Business analysis say that this trend will keep growing for the next 3-5 years! We will see an increase in generic pain medications. Even though many of the branded medications have been the fore-runners in the treatments, its time they stepped aside. New treatments will be pushing their way into the market, and making their mark to help many patients find relief. Many of these will not cost as much as their older competitors, which is a great advantage in this recession.

According to one report (via), many of the new drugs hitting the market are reducing their R and D They are building off of brands they already have in production, either by line extensions or expanded formulations. They have learned what they need to know by the medications they have on the market and are just expanding on them. This will help build companies into being more specialized in the pain management arena, and make use of their products with expired patents.

Hopefully, with many more players in the pain management research field, we will have medications that cost us less, with better results and with less side effects! After all life is short, and I want to live every moment to the fullest!