To the extent 'generic' versions of drugs are involved - it gets a lot worse. Katherine Eban’s Bottle of Lies lays out what a scam it is — and how powerless the FDA is to do anything about it. She’s also got a TED talk if you want video, and a really good interview with Peter Attia (IMO the best place to start).

It looks like all of us who take any Rx meds are totally at the mercy of corrupt generic producers and insurers who insist we get, not just the generic version, but the very cheapest generic version they can lay hands on.

But there’s a testing lab, Valisure, originally set up so pharma wholesalers could ensure that they were providing good generics. Turns out the wholesalers weren’t interested (no comments as to why, but I’d guess it’s about shareholder value), so Valisure partnered with an online pharmacy. There’s an Attia interview in which I first found out about this, but I can’t find it, so no link — sorry.

As someone on Medicare, I would love to find a “Part D” policy that sources from Medly (the online pharmacy Valisure partnered with). I’m still working on that, but, if there is one, the next “open” period, I’ll jump on it, no matter the expense. :-)