The Food and Drug Administration has issued a long-awaited report on the quality of a generic antidepressant. Last October the FDA reported that one generic form of the drug Wellbutrin did not meet its bioequivalence standards. This long-acting form of bupropion was unceremoniously pulled off the market. This was the first time in recent memory that a generic medication approved by the FDA was later determined to be inadequate.
At that time the FDA required all generic forms of the long-acting 300 mg formulation to be tested to see if they were identical to the brand name Wellbutrin. While products from Mylan, Actavis and Par were acceptable, the Watson form was deemed not therapeutically equivalent to Wellbutrin XL 300. The drug will be voluntarily withdrawn.
