Don’t be surprised—or alarmed—if a refill of your prescription medication suddenly comes in a different color and shape. It may just be that you received either a generic version of your brand-name medication or a different generic drug if you were already using a generic.
Although approved by the FDA as pharmacologically equivalent stand-ins for more costly brand-name drugs, generics—which now make up nearly 90 percent of all prescriptions in the U.S.—often don’t look like the medications they’re replacing. Adding to the confusion is that the generics’ appearance may vary from refill to refill depending on the manufacturer supplying the pharmacy with that particular batch.
The reason generic drugs might look different from brand-name drugs has to do with a trademark law that prohibits generic drugs from mimicking the physical qualities of their brand-name counterparts, such as size, shape, and color. However, these discrepancies may be confusing if you’re used to taking pills that look a specific way.
Ask your doctor if it’s okay to take a generic drug if you had been using a brand-name drug; in a handful of cases, differences between generics could affect your treatment. If you get your drugs from a pharmacy, always look at the labeling and the pills before leaving to be sure you’re getting the correct medication. You can also check your drugs by using this online Pill Identifier. Type in either your medication’s name, its shape and color, or its imprint code (the tiny letters and numbers that appear on the pill).
