WICHITA, Kan. — Judy Beals doesn't have to take a lot of medications, but when she does, she tries to get the generic form. She has no qualms about straying from the brand name. "I don't pay nearly as much," the Wichita resident said.

Consumers such as Beals have more choices than ever when it comes to generics, which are lower-cost versions of brand-name drugs.

So far this year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved 67 drugs for first-time use in generic form, including Xanax XR for anxiety, Flonase nasal spray for seasonal allergies, Percocet for pain, Lexapro for depression and anxiety, Zocor for cholesterol, Zoloft for depression and anxiety, and oral suspension of Zithromax, an antibiotic for children. (For a full list, go to www.fda.gov/cder/ogd/approvals.)

That number compares with 47 new generics for the same period last year and 46 for the same period in 2001.

And more are on the way.

Brand-name drugs for which patents will expire in the next few years include Wellbutrin XL for depression and smoking cessation (this year), Imitrex for migraines (next year), Advair for asthma (2008), and Zyrtec and Clarinex for allergies, and Valtrex for herpes (2009), according to the Generic Pharmaceutical Association.

Patents protect the company that introduced a drug. Companies that wish to bring a generic to market can wait until the patent expires or, in some cases, challenge the patent.

According to the FDA, 8,730 of 11,487 drugs have generic counterparts. That means savings for consumers, especially when multiple companies offer a generic form and compete against each other. In addition to first generics, the FDA has approved dozens of applications this year from companies wanting to offer generics already on the market.

In 2004, the average price of a generic prescription drug was $28.71 compared with $94.54 for the average price of a brand-name prescription, according to the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.

Michael Polzin, a spokesman for Walgreens, said about 60 percent of prescriptions filled by the chain are for generics.

"That's ticking up a couple percent every year," he said.

Consumer's Pharmacy owner Ed Boyd says 99 percent of his customers prefer generic when available.

He follows suit.

"I take a generic if it's available, and I give it to my parents if it's available," Boyd said.

Generic drugs represented 66.4 percent of prescription doses sold in 2004, compared with 61 percent in 2001, Scott Gottlieb, deputy commissioner for the FDA, said in an April speech.

IMS Health, the world's leading provider of market intelligence to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, says brand-name medication with annual sales of about $64 billion will come off patent in the next five years.