Equine Health

Medicine & Husbandry

Compounding Drugs Study

Are generic drugs as good as the real thing? UC Davis Equine surgeon and researcher Jack Snyder recently finished a study comparing GastroGard and a compounded substance containing the same active ingredient. Their study showed that the compounded “drug” did little to heal stomach ulcers while GastroGard was highly effective.

What does this mean? Asked about generic and compounded drugs, Dr. Snyder says, “Ask yourself what you are getting. The compounded [drug] was not as good as the GastroGard. It’s a lot less expensive, but it's not working.” Our job as your veterinarian is to choose drugs that are highly researched and proven to work. Sometimes there might be cheaper alternatives, but often you “get what you pay for."