Whom do you trust to provide you with information about medications? Is it an advertisement on TV? Information you receive in the mail or on the Internet? Let's hope your doctor is the one person who assures that you get the most effective medication at the best possible price. Unless there is compelling evidence that a newer or more expensive medication is more effective, the tried and true generic with a reliable record of benefits and side effects is prescribed.

Last year, 84 percent of prescriptions were for generic drugs, compared with 80 percent in 2011, according to the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in the last decade, generic drugs have saved the nation's health care system more than $931 billion.

In the past three years the most extensively used medications to lower cholesterol, treat hypertension, Alzheimer's, erectile dysfunction and depression have become generic. As a consequence, in 2012, for the first time ever, we spent less on prescription medications than in the previous year. The actual decrease was only 1 percent or $325.7 million. And according to a report in The New York Times, a further decrease of 1.5 percent has occurred in recent months.

Generic use has increased and patents for the most valuable medications have expired, and so have billions of dollars in pharmaceutical company profits. And despite an incredibly creative research enterprise, breakthrough medications that will make dramatic improvements in the treatment of disease are fewer and more difficult to develop.

Sadly, there is a downside to the extensive use of generics. To continue to make an adequate profit, as well as to assure the resources needed for new product development, there have been substantial price increases on brand name medications to treat complex diseases such as cancer and rheumatoid arthritis. And as the population ages and these diseases become more prevalent, pharmaceutical costs are predicted to soar despite the continued use of generics for common illnesses.

To foster more use of branded drugs, a massive marketing effort is underway to persuade the public to discuss the use of these medications with their doctors. In advertisements, actress Sally Field says she trusts her bones to Boniva, the once-monthly medication to treat osteoporosis. If you have drug insurance, the co-payment may be small but the monthly cost of Boniva varies from $150 to $300. For the Medicare population, the actual amount spent on drugs in your plan often will reach the "doughnut hole" more rapidly. As the total cost of the drug becomes the patient's responsibility, some medications may become prohibitively expensive. So why not consider treating osteoporosis with the generic Alendronate that costs $10 for a three-month supply? The benefits and side effects are essentially equivalent to Boniva; the only apparent downside to Alendronate is that it is taken weekly rather than monthly.

The Boniva advertisements are among hundreds that pepper the airways and appear in print media. You may note that while advertisements for Cialis to treat erectile dysfunction are everywhere, promotions for Viagra have melted away as the drug is now generic and substantially cheaper.

Our goal as a nation should be to promote good health, treat disease with appropriate medication while simultaneously playing a role in reducing health care costs.

This means using generics whenever possible. Understand that generics are regulated by the FDA, must meet rigorous standards, must contain the same dosage and be proved without question to have the same benefits as the branded medication. Anyone who believes that the branded drug will be more effective, less dangerous and have fewer impurities is incorrect.

One other consideration: what to do about price differences between the costs paid for a drug in the United States compared to elsewhere in the world. Even within the United States, the cost of a particular medication varies depending on whether you obtain it through the Department of Veterans Affairs, Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance. Of course, those without insurance often pay the most.

Obviously there are continued opportunities to scale back on drug costs without affecting quality care. Sadly, the providers of these beneficent drugs are steered by boards of directors and lobbyist advisers whose wishes are sometimes not compatible with the general welfare.

Dr. David Lipschitz is the author of the book "Breaking the Rules of Aging." To find out more about Dr. David Lipschitz and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com. More information is available at: DrDavidHealth.com.