In the 1970s, the notion that hospital pharmacists could-and should-dispense a cheaper generic product, even though a branded one had been prescribed, was anathema to some of my clinical colleagues in the UK. One said it was interfering with clinical freedom. Another claimed that he wished to prescribe branded products because he could be sure that it was the same formulation as that used in the original clinical trials. I took smug pleasure in telling him that clinical trials were usually done with experimental formulations; and that showing bioequivalence was essential for regulatory approval.

» The Lancet: Generic prescribing: unfi nished business