eli5 – Doctor writes me a Rx for “prenatal vitamins” and checks box for may sub generic – how does pharmacist choose which vitamins to give?

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There’s many different brands of Rx prenatal vitamins, both name brand and generic. How does the pharmacist know which one to fill based on such a vague Rx? Eeny, meeny, miny, moe?

This is what happened several years ago and I mailed the Rx to my mail order pharmacy and was mailed generic prenatal vitamins. No questions asked of me. I’m curious how they were chosen. I wasn’t informed enough at the time to compare ingredients or even know that there were several options. If there’s a better sub to ask this question please let me know. Thanks!

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Anonymous 0 Comments

To me, it would seem that the generic *must* contain the same vitamins in the same dosage to be interchangeable.

If the doctor orders Motrin 600 mg, which is a prescription dose, then the pharmacist can give me ibuprofen 600 mg because it is the same formulated medication and dosage.

The problem with generics is that sometimes they have a “filler” (like the coating or an inert ingredient) that negatively affects the patient. This happened to me with a prescription drug, and the pharmacist simply tried another brand of generic which worked for me without making me sick.

But to be interchangeable, I would think it must be the same medications (vitamins) and doses.

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