Frank Pallone: “does anyone in the Chamber know the difference between Zantac and Ranitidine Hydrochloride? Here is the answer: Price.…”

“does anyone in the Chamber know the difference between Zantac and Ranitidine Hydrochloride? Here is the answer: Price. Zantac is the brand name of a popular medication to treat ulcers. Ranitidine Hydrochloride is the generic name of the exact same drug. The Food and Drug Administration ensures that whether a consumer uses a drug by its brand name, such as Zantac, or a drug that goes by the generic name, such as Ranitidine, they will receive the same active ingredients and the same health benefits. To quote FDA Commissioner Jane Henney, ``If the FDA declares a generic drug to be therapeutically equivalent to an innovator drug, the two products will provide the same intended clinical effect.'' This is important, Mr. Speaker, because if we ever hope to bring health care inflation under control, we have to understand that brand drugs and generic drugs are truly interchangeable. Through greater use of high quality, less costly generic drugs, we can have truly affordable and effective medicine. If we check our medicine cabinets, we find that there are more affordable generics available for many of these expensive prescriptions.”