There was a recent, interesting discussion on econtalk that I think I'd related to this. In order to get a generic approved you need to proof bio-equivalence. To do that you need three original drug. The original creator of the drug has interest to delay this as long as possible. So they use the special drug thing to make it really hard for their competitor to get the drug. Sounds totally insane but apparently is common now. The original intend of the special drug thing was to protect people from more dangerous drugs that you need to be well informed about.
Sorry, phone auto correct. As someone else pointed out it should be "the original drug". You get both drugs and show that they are the same for the body.
