An Overview of Generic Soma
Soma® (
carisoprodol) is a prescription medication that belongs to a group of medications known as skeletal muscle relaxants. It is used for the short-term (two to three weeks) treatment of muscle spasms.
Brand-name Soma is manufactured by MedPointe Pharmaceuticals. However, the patents for Soma are long expired, and generic Soma is currently available.
Strengths of Generic Soma
Generic
Soma tablets are available only in one strength -- carisoprodol 350 mg tablets. At this time, there are no generic versions of
Soma 250 mg tablets.
Generic Soma is made by many different manufacturers. A few of these manufacturers include:
- Actavis, Inc.
- CorePharma
- Major Pharmaceuticals
- Medisca, Inc.
- Meridian Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
- Mutual Pharmaceutical Company, Inc.
- Watson Laboratories.
Is Generic Carisoprodol as Good as Soma?
All generic medications must undergo certain tests to compare them to brand-name medications. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) then looks at these tests to decide if the generics are equivalent to the brand-name medications and assigns each generic a rating. An "AB" rating means that the FDA has determined that a generic medication is equivalent to a brand-name medication. All generic carisoprodol tablets currently available have an "AB" rating, meaning they should be equivalent to Soma.
However, generic medications are allowed to have different inactive ingredients than the brand-name medication. This might include fillers or dyes or other ingredients that may cause problems for people with
allergies or sensitivities.
