The Most Commonly Prescribed Drugs in America
by Napala Pratini, NerdWallet, The Motley Fool
May 25th 2014
We remain a prescription nation. Nearly 70% of Americans take one prescription drug and more than half take two, according to researchers at the Mayo Clinic and Olmsted Medical Center. What's more, about 20% of Americans use at least five prescription medications. That same research shows that prescription drug use has been increasing steadily in the U.S. for the past decade. With such a vast swath of the population relying on prescriptions, what drugs are being prescribed, and why?
The most recent data available, an April 2012 study by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, a company that tracks sales at the pharmacy level for drug companies, shows that the top five medicines prescribed in the U.S. in 2011 were:
Hydrocodone/acetaminophen.
Levothyroxine sodium.
Simvastatin.
Lisinopril.
Amlodipine besylate.
These drugs are being prescribed in the millions, according to the IMS Institute. The numbers of prescriptions for each range from a high of 136 million for hydrocodone/acetaminophen and 104 million for Levothyroxine sodium to 96 million for Simvastatin, 88.8 million for Lisinopril, and 62.5 million for Amlodipine besylate.
continued http://www.dailyfinance.com/2014/05/25/the-most-commonly-prescribed-drugs-in-america/
by Napala Pratini, NerdWallet, The Motley Fool
May 25th 2014
We remain a prescription nation. Nearly 70% of Americans take one prescription drug and more than half take two, according to researchers at the Mayo Clinic and Olmsted Medical Center. What's more, about 20% of Americans use at least five prescription medications. That same research shows that prescription drug use has been increasing steadily in the U.S. for the past decade. With such a vast swath of the population relying on prescriptions, what drugs are being prescribed, and why?
The most recent data available, an April 2012 study by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, a company that tracks sales at the pharmacy level for drug companies, shows that the top five medicines prescribed in the U.S. in 2011 were:
Hydrocodone/acetaminophen.
Levothyroxine sodium.
Simvastatin.
Lisinopril.
Amlodipine besylate.
These drugs are being prescribed in the millions, according to the IMS Institute. The numbers of prescriptions for each range from a high of 136 million for hydrocodone/acetaminophen and 104 million for Levothyroxine sodium to 96 million for Simvastatin, 88.8 million for Lisinopril, and 62.5 million for Amlodipine besylate.
continued http://www.dailyfinance.com/2014/05/25/the-most-commonly-prescribed-drugs-in-america/
