How can I find the latest generic drugs?

Here are some resources you can use to stay on top of the latest in new generic products from countries you can trust.

Canada: This is where you can find the most recent Notices of Compliance issued by Health Canada to generic companies. An NOC recognizes that a generic company has met all of Health Canada's requirements with regards to safety and efficacy. With an NOC in hand, the generic company can take the drug to market.

(Bear in mind that it may take up to eight weeks for a generic company to gear up production to meet demand after receiving their NOC.)

If the U.S. market doesn't have a generic available, this is where you could see some big savings.

Click here to go to Health Canada Notices of Compliance


New Zealand: You can use this interactive site to see if a generic equivalent for your medication exists in NZ. Be sure to use the generic name for your medications to avoid confusion. There are some brand name medications that contain different pharmaceutical active ingredients in different countries.

If there is a generic available, your search will return more than one manufacturer.

While there is pricing shown on this site, don't count on getting that price online. Firstly, this is the price the New Zealand government is willing to reimburse a patient for this drug: a pharmacy may include a co-payment or a dispensing fee, or both.

Secondly, online international pharmacies set their prices based on what their market can bear, and what the competition is doing. They will be working down from high U.S. prices rather than up from the lowest prices available in New Zealand.

The same holds for Australia.

Click here to go to the New Zealand Drug Schedule

Click here to go to the Australian Drug Schedule

A word of caution: don't base your decision on which internet pharmacy to use solely on the availability of new generics. It's important to have an online pharmacy that knows all the medications you are taking. Remember that all prescription medications can have side effects. Interactions with other drugs can cause serious health problems.

If you split your business among numerous internet pharmacies, they have no way of knowing your complete medication history. You are putting your health at risk, even if the individual pharmacies you use follow good pharmacy practice guidelines.

Also, many internet pharmacies are now sourcing your prescriptions internationally. Many Canadian pharmacies routinely have some of their medications sent directly to the patient from countries such as England and New Zealand. (I will explain why in another post.) As long as your prescriptions are sent from trustworthy countries such as those I've mentioned in previous posts, you can get the latest generics and still be confident the product is safe.