Generic drugs, the bugbear of Big Pharma, are gaining market share. Consumers are more likely than before to choose generic drugs over their branded counterparts. One reason could be that more patients now have experience with generic medicines and believe that they are as safe and effective as branded drugs.

But what inspired patients to become familiar with generics in the first place? No doubt a shaky economy and the fact that generics are much cheaper.

Wolters Kluwer Health just released the results of their study that measured how much impact the Medicare Part D coverage gap had on patients’ treatment decisions. Not surprisingly, it showed that 63% of patients in the gap opt to buy generics rather than branded drugs. This percentage increased from 56% in 2007. The study also revealed that only 6% of patients return to branded medications once they leave the coverage gap.

What surprised me was that patients stick with branded drugs for as long as 90 days once they’ve entered the coverage gap. If you’re paying the entire cost of your drugs out of your own pocket, why bother to spend more than you have to? I’m surprised that patients don’t switch to generics as soon as they are no longer covered by insurance.

In fact, I would choose a generic drug even if it were entirely covered by my insurance plan. If I don’t want to spend more than I have to for a drug, why should I make my insurance provider spend extra money? Do unto others, you know?

If generics are equivalent to branded drugs and have regulators’ blessing, then I think their lower cost makes them the sensible choice. It’s up to Big Pharma to find something to offer that generics can’t.