Better Health: Smart Health Commentary

Featured

What Are The Most Popular, And Most Expensive, Drugs In America?

May 9th, 2011 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in News
No Comments »

The top 10 prescribed drugs in the U.S. for 2010 in order of prescriptions written are:

• Hydrocodone (combined with acetaminophen) — 131.2 million prescriptions
• Generic Zocor (simvastatin), a cholesterol-lowering statin drug — 94.1 million prescriptions
• Lisinopril (brand names include Prinivil and Zestril), a blood pressure drug — 87.4 million prescriptions
• Generic Synthroid (levothyroxine sodium), synthetic thyroid hormone — 70.5 million prescriptions
• Generic Norvasc (amlodipine besylate), an angina/blood pressure drug — 57.2 million prescriptions
• Generic Prilosec (omeprazole), an antacid drug — 53.4 million prescriptions (does not include over-the-counter sales)
• Azithromycin (brand names include Z-Pak and Zithromax), an antibiotic — 52.6 million prescriptions
• Amoxicillin (various brand names), an antibiotic — 52.3 million prescriptions
• Generic Glucophage (metformin), a diabetes drug — 48.3 million prescriptions
• Hydrochlorothiazide (various brand names), a water pill used to lower blood pressure — 47.8 million prescriptions.

Notice that most of these are generic so they aren’t the ones that make the most money for Big Pharma.  Those drugs are not offered in generic and they brought in  n $307 billion  in 2010.  What was number one?  Drumroll……..

Lipitor, a cholesterol lowering statin.

In case you wondered who is paying for these drugs…Commercial insurance helped pay for 63% of all prescriptions.  Medicare Part D (Federal government) paid for 22% of prescriptions.  The average co-payment for a prescription was $10.73.  The average co-payment for a branded drug was $22.73.

If you are paying for prescriptions, make sure you ask your physician if it is available in generic.  It can save you a lot of $$.

*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*

What Some Patients Will Do For Drugs: A Strange Phone Call Late At Night

May 4th, 2011 by Lucy Hornstein, M.D. in Humor, True Stories
No Comments »

9:00 pm:

Hello. It’s Mrs. Mumbledimumbler; I need the doctor to call me right away. My hip is driving me crazy. Please call me.

I listen to the message three times so I can sort of make out the name. The problem is that even though I think I can understand it, I don’t recognize it at all. But I call her because she said she needed me to call her right away.

Hello. I need you to call me in some tramadol right away.

“What was your name again?”

She repeats it clearly enough for me to confirm that I really don’t recognize it.

“Have I ever seen you in the office?”

No.

Let me get this straight: it’s 9:00 at night and your hip is hurting, so you call a doctor who’s a complete stranger and insist that they call you in a powerful painkiller without ever having seen you, taken your medical history, or examined you? I don’t think so.

“Um, I’m sorry ma’am, but I really can’t do that unless you’re an established patient in my office.”

Oh, okay; never mind.

I suppose I should count my lucky stars that she didn’t want vicodin.

*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Dinosaur*

Prescription Drugs And High School Students

June 6th, 2010 by BarbaraFicarraRN in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Research
No Comments »

A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that one in five U.S. high school students have taken a prescription drug that they didn’t get from their doctor.

According to the 2009 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) that was released today from the CDC, the survey asked more than 16,000 high school students if they’ve ever taken a prescription drug such as Oxycontin, Percoset, Vicodin, Adderall, Ritalin and Xanax. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Health in 30*