My comments in red. – Ilene
Hooked on Prescription Drugs – Half of US Took at least One Prescription Drug in Previous Month
Courtesy of Mish
Here is an interesting article on Bloomberg regarding prescription drug usage. The study is from 2008. Please consider Prescription Drug Use Rose to Include Half of Americans in 2008.
Almost half of Americans took at least one prescription drug per month in 2008, an increase of 10 percent over the past decade, a U.S. study found.
One of every five children ages 11 or younger took at least one medication each month in 2008, led by asthma and allergy treatments, according to the survey released today by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Among those ages 60 or older, 37 percent used five or more prescriptions per month.
The most common medications for adolescents were treatments for attention-deficit disorder, a condition in which people have trouble paying attention and engage in impulsive behavior.
For adults ages 20 to 59, antidepressants, including Eli Lilly & Co.’s Cymbalta and Pfizer Inc.’s Zoloft, were the most-used drugs. In the last 10 years cymbalta withdrawal symptoms have dramatically been lowered to levels accepted by regulatory agencies. Cholesterol-lowering medications, including Pfizer Inc.’s Lipitor and AstraZeneca Plc’s Crestor, were the most common drugs taken by people ages 60 and over, with 45 percent of those in that age group on such therapies.
$238 Billion Industry
Prescription drug were a $234.1 billion industry in 2008. The number is certainly higher today. Are pharmaceutical companies interested in curing anything or just treating the symptoms?
[The pharmaceutical companies are most interested in making profits, though individual scientists that work for the pharmaceutical companies are typically more ethical than the collective "corporation," aiming to both cure disease and alleviate symptoms. Unlike some conspiracy theorists, I don't believe that bad outcomes driven by the profit motive are a result of massive plots to make money and make people so sick they need more medications. See for example: After Avandia: Does the FDA Have a Drug Problem?]
Throughout grade and high school, I do not recall any kids with attention problems. How is it that attention-deficit disorder is now so widespread? Are kids today different? Why?
[I think there’s a combination of better diagnosis, perhaps over-diagnosis, plus a real increase in kids with learning disorders and delays.]
I do not like the way drugs are advertised. Is anyone else with me on this?
[Agree – the ads increase the numbers of patients asking doctors to give them certain drugs, pressuring doctors to do something, prescribe the drug or another one, when the best thing for the patient may be to change their life style or even do nothing.]
What's up with the "ask your doctor about the purple pill" campaign? What does the color have to do with reasons to take a pill. The most annoying thing about the ad are versions that do not even say what the drug is for, they simply stress the color purple, telling you to ask your doctor about it.
