The patient is prescribed a medication that was just placed in Phase IV study. The patient tells the nurse, "This medication is too expensive

Question

Could the doctor order a generic form of this medication?" What is the nurse's most accurate response? A) "Medications are not produced in generic form until the patent expires, which normally takes several years."
B) "You can request the generic form but the binder used may make the drug less effective for this medication."
C) "The generic form of the medication would not be any less expensive because this is a relatively new medication."
D) "Generic medications are lower quality drugs and that would mean you would not be getting the best treatment available."

Answer 1

A
Feedback:
When a new drug enters the market, it is given a time-limited patent; generic forms of the medication cannot be produced until the patent expires. Because no generic version of this drug will exist because it is so new, it is impossible to predict what binder will be used or what the cost would be.