A generic equivalent is a generic drug that has the same active ingredients as its brand-name counterpart. For a generic drug to be considered “equivalent,” it has to be approved by the FDA as being interchangeable with that brand-name drug. With the approval of your provider, the pharmacist may dispense a generic equivalent in place of the brand-name drug prescribed. (See “The Therapeutic Interchange Program (TIP): When the pharmacist can switch your prescriptions” for how this works.)