When I fill my monthly generic prescription for oxycodone, I sometimes get pills made by different manufacturers. It seems like some work better than others, same dose - same drug! Does anyone else have this experience?
Oxycodone - Is there a difference in manufacturers of generic drugs?
Question posted by Anniebananie12 on 1 July 2013
Last updated on 22 November 2023
76 Answers Page 2
I had this experience. After the NY State Attorney General enacted a law to tax opioid medication, my pharmacist had trouble ordering the usual oxycodone tablet. (Prior to this, I never had a problem with pain control, therefore never checked manufacturer). The tablets were small round light blue 30mg oxycodone immediate release. The only manufacturer the pharmacy was able to order from who would ship to NY was Rhodes Pharmaceutical. Their tablets were bigger round white tablets. I had no relief from the pain with Rhodes tablets. When I looked into Rhodes, I discovered that they are owned by the Purdue pharma company who marketed their OxyContin to teenagers for sports injuries! Oxycodone should be used by chronic pain sufferers and end stage pain issues. As I said I never had a problem with the efficacy of the medication so I contacted the FDA. The form they have for complaints about medication products can now be filled out online.
I did so and fast forward a year or so, the pharmacy was dispensing the small blue round tabs again. I noticed that the pain was lessened and the difference was like night and day with both the white and blue pills. Yes, when I saw that Rhodes manufactured the blue round pills after I filed the complaint with the FDA, I was shocked. I don’t know what to think. Did my complaint and many others lead to an investigation and improvements? I don’t know. But if you are having issues with something like medication, the FDA is the agency to contact.
Thanks I glad I not alone? I filled over 5 times still they don’t care !
OMG no, I have been getting KVK pharmacy for as long as i can remember. It does the trick enough to live, but this time, i was shocked, opened my bottle it was huge white pills. Looked and it was Rhodes Pharmacy, and YES i am having problems, why can they continue to make pills that don't work very well? Its out quality of life they are messing with, not fault of ours if they got in trouble, so make a better product, this month is going to be hell.
Fill a complaint with med watch ! Rhodes brand is very bad I live in Louisiana and the pharmacy can’t even get 10/325 from anywhere!
Fill a complaint with med watch ! Rhodes brand is very bad I live in Louisiana and the pharmacy can’t even get 10/325 from anywhere!
What is med watch, never had to do this before, but this is ridiculous.
Yes!! Huge difference! When you notice they are NOT as effective, call your pharmacy. You want to get some information from them.
1. Pharmaceutical company that made them;
2. Lot number off the bottoe:; AND
3. Expiration date.
https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/index.cfm?action=reporting.home
File with them & pass it ON! There's a few companies that screw around & they'll have keys say china make the drugs. China will lie about how much is in there.more profit
I've found that with oxycodone for years.
Done
done
The Auro Oxycodone 10mg U17 are terrible and they were recently recalled, or a certain batch and NDC number were. I am actually having mine tested by a lab that specializes in doing so, they made me extremely ill and I aim to find out why. Feel free to contact me.
I realize I am answering a really old question , I apologize. But the U17, is not effective at all for me, as oxycodone. Not sure why. It even gives me heart palpitations. Please advise, if you can and let me know your thoughts if you have had others not be as effective. Thanks so much, Carrie.
See my response to your question.
Say what you will but from experience there is a difference from generic oxycodone its not as effective and does no work as long , about half as long non generic .
Hi Anniebananie12, here in Canada it's the same we have only 2 generic versions of the oxycodone but me i ask only PMS the other generic is not the same. I buy my OxyIR 10mg from the real company and they work better than the 80mg and 20mg but now i change for fentanyl Patchs i hope it will be better.
Alain45
Yes there is a difference in generic medications.
I have had this same terrible experience. I used to get my meds at Walmart and I switched pharmacies. It was oxycodone 7.5 and the pills were round. My old ones were much larger and oblong. The round ones had to just be 5 mg. because they didn’t last very long and did very little for the pain but the bottle said 7.5 but there’s no way that could be true. I kept telling my husband that something’s wrong. At the time I had no idea people were having these problems so I know it wasn’t because I had that in my head already. The bad thing is you’re stuck with them for a month and have to take a half of another pill to just get outta pain which is gonna cause you to run short. So that means there’s gonna be some days you’re gonna be pulling your hair out having to cut back till your next refill. If these drug companies that do this to people had to suffer through just one month like I have they’d never do this again to anybody.
Yes, in fact, I was recently taking Oxycodone 30s by Activas and all was great, then the same pharmacy filled the same medication but used the mfr Epic and its made me very sick and nauseous and does nothing for my pain. I was told i am prob allergic to the fillers in the Epic pills. Needless to say, no more roxy 30 brand Epic for me!!
I see so many definitive "he said, she said, has to be" Wrong. Never mind what I say. It would simply be another "I heard". Go to the source which is FDA.gov. There are biologic similars, biologic same, therapeutic equals. FDA approved & un-approved generics. In essence, you may not even be receiving what you think you are. All of these have gotten dumped into a very broad term, "generics". It is not only the fillers, though fillers can cause a med to work or not work and this is why there is a huge discrepancy in what patients say. I recently received a generic that did NOTHING. You need to input the NDC #'s on your prescription label. You will be in for quite a surprise. I first read a disclaimer from the FDA that a prescription having an NDC# in no way implies that a prescription is FDA approved. I swear there was nothing in this pill & could not believe fillers would render it useless.
This company's only FDA generic is in an oral solution. I saw many patients on-line saying the same. I have also seen some that are happy with it. I think those that are happy with it are the same that would be happy with a placebo. Mine ended up discarded as per doctor's advice. This is the truth. Any prescription you have, look it up on the FDA.gov website, which will also list all inactive additives. I was curious why this wonderful company that proudly makes their products under the highest of standards does not list this drug in it's portfolio of their fine FDA approved medications. It's not an FDA approved generic. I don't know what good filing a complaint to the FDA would do, as they did not approve it, so the pharmacy's corporate will be receiving a formal complaint, CC to the FDA at any rate. Next time I'm told "it's all in my head", I am armed with information, not opinions.
I went to that page can you help me find where to enter the NDC numbers?
The question has been correctly answered by others as far as fillers. As far as the active ingredient being exactly the same as the name brand, it isn't necessarily done. There is a 10% leeway plus or minus permitted. These guidelines are not always observed. Manufacturers are given a slap on the wrist. Most of the US generics are manufactured in India (70%-80%) Pharmacies no longer order patient’s preferred generic oxycodone. You get whatever one of the three Pharmacy Benefits Managers get the cheapest. PBMs control 80 plus % of all Americans’ prescriptions for billions in kickbacks A/K/A rebates due to the Affordable Care Act while prescription prices to consumers have risen an average of 156%/year making prescription prices in the US far and above the most expensive in the world.
Yes there is a difference. Although most medical professionals won’t admit it, when making a generic drug manufacturers only have to be within a certain percent of the name brand. In other words they have to have +/- 10 % of the active ingredient. Meaning so manufactures might be 10% weaker and some might be 10% stronger. If your like most you have never had the name brand so that means you might be getting one med that’s 20% weaker then the med you got form a different manufacture.
I take Oxycodone 30mg for my bad back. I've been taking it for many years. I usually get the ones manufactured by Mallinckrodt (they are stamped with the "M" on the round blue pill). But this month I got them from a company called Mylan, (imprinted with "114", round, white, and larger than the Mallinckrodt). On the first day I started taking them, I got a headache and acid reflux, and they definitely do not work as well.
I'm going to contact my pharmacist. I want to ask if he can swap out the remaining pills for me, but something tells me that he can't legally do that. So I'll just have to ride out the rest of the month with these crappy pills and make sure I don't get them again next month.
Started out with the Kroger pharmacies and got the kvetch and was so convinced I was given sugar pills I sent some into the company to be tested. Of course they said they were just fine. Switched pharmacies and now I am taking the 15mg Mallinckrodt brand for the past 2 years. They have been working great up until a few months ago I noticed they are making me so tired. I swear they changed them and put some kind of sleeping medication in them. I can barley hold my head up. I’m afraid to try a new brand because they all are so different. Has anyone else noticed that the 15mg Mallinckrodt brand has changed. They used to give me a pep of energy? Now I’m nodding my head off and my pain isn’t even being controlled as well? Thanks so much
A bit later… I take the 7.5/325 of the OxyContin from Fry's. (Kroger) , and I've been overwhelmed with the drowsiness it causes ! I've read all about the concerns of different manufacturers and I agree. I believe I'm going to ask my Dr. if she'll just give me the brand name, Percocet, and call it a day…
That is def true t192 5 mg and t194 10 mg is is the best generics for those mg in percocet and any yellow tabs like the new 10 mg c203 work the most potent all yellow tabs are stronger and the t192 5 mg are blue which is fairly new are potent also even there are the same mg some manafactures are potent than others it is important to know that
I’ve been on IR oxycodone 15mg for almost three years. The first two and a half years my (independent) pharmacy always filled them with Actavis generic oxycodone and I was more than satisfied with their strength in alleviating chronic neck and lower back pain.
In June of this year, after picking up my monthly prescriptions, I was surprised to find tiny yellow tablets instead of the green normal-sized ones produced by Actavis, Qualitest, Mallinckrodt, and KVK-Tech. Convinced a mistake had been made by the pharmacist, I literally had to use a magnifying glass in order to read the pill ID. Turns out these were the latest (and least expensive for the pharmacy) IR oxycodone tablets manufactured by Camber Pharma. Apparently at least one of the chains had recently switched all of their oxycodone containing medications to Camber, and all reviews were uniformly awful.
I couldn’t believe how microscopic these things were, and immediately wondered why they’d produce a drug like oxycodone in a size that could easily be legitimately be dropped, lost, etc... many of the excuses used by those who are trying to increase their supply. Worse, the pain relief I’d come to take for granted with the Actavis generic was almost nonexistent with Camber. I called my pharmacy and apparently I wasn’t the one who had an issue with this generic; however, these were the only ones currently available from their wholesaler. I managed to get through the month with these tiny yellow ineffective generics and asked my pharmacist to please try ordering any other brand if at all possible.
Luckily, by the next month they had received the IR oxycodone 15mg’s made by KVK-Tech. The difference in quality was clear twenty minutes after taking one. I felt the relief I’d gotten used to from Actavis... and if anything, they seemed even stronger than Actavis. Since then, they have ordered KVK for me and the other customers who had a bad experience taking Camber’s oxycodone. I received the Mallinckrodt brand one month and they were very similar to the Actavis generic in terms of strength and quality.
Avoid anything made by Camber. I can’t remember ever taking such an inferior generic medication before or since.
Camber bought out Activis so Activis oxycodone is no longer available.
Hi Anniebananie12,
I have found that the different generics react with my body differently all the time. I don't understand why the doctor can't just check that little box that says NO substitutions and solve my problems. I have 8 herniated disks, severe stenosis, and spinal osteoarthritis. I take 15mg oxycodone(generic for roxicodone) and used Rhodes brand years ago and it was among my favorites as I got more time out of it, and it was a round green pill, then it disappeared for a while and came back as a white oval pill which to me is useless. I might get 3 hours from it while my bottle reads every 8 hours like that would ever happen, especially being on this drug since 2011. I also had my 4 pills cut back to 3, thanks to the interference of the CDC. Don't even get me started on that whole fiasco. So to answer your question "Does anyone else have this experience?" The answer is YES!
Related topics
oxycodone, chronic pain, generic, prescription
Further information
- Oxycodone uses and safety info
- Oxycodone prescribing info & package insert (for Health Professionals)
- Side effects of Oxycodone (detailed)
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