Trademark law forbids generics from copying the brand's look, so the same drug changes color and shape when your pharmacy switches manufacturers - a constant, price-driven event.
What the FDA guarantees identical: active ingredient, strength, dosage form, quality - generics must prove same-drug-same-rate delivery. What can differ: inactive ingredients (dyes, fillers, coatings), which a rare person reacts to. The protective habit: check the label and imprint - pharmacies must note manufacturer changes - and if the drug name or strength on the bottle differs from expectations, call before taking any.
What to do
Common questions
Why is my generic pill a different color?
Almost certainly the same medicine in new clothing. Trademark law bars generic manufacturers from copying a pill's appearance, so when your pharmacy switches suppliers - which happens constantly, driven by price and stock - the same drug arrives in a different color, shape, or imprint. What the FDA guarantees stays identical: the active ingredient, the strength, the dosage form, and the quality standard - generics must prove they deliver the same amount of active drug at the same rate as the brand. What can legitimately differ: the inactive ingredients - dyes, fillers, coatings - which is why a rare person notices a sensitivity to a dye, and why time-release coatings can make one version feel slightly different even when the active drug matches. The habit that protects you: check the label and imprint before assuming an error - the pharmacy is required to note a manufacturer change, and the pill's imprint code can be looked up - but if the drug name or strength on the bottle differs from what you expect, call the pharmacy before taking any. Pymander, a free AI doctor available 24/7 by text, can help you decode what changed.