The 10 Most Prescribed Drugs in America
May 28, 2010
So where do you stand on the Pharma industry? Personally, being the greedy capitalist pig that I am, I think it’s a good thing (generally.) Sure, new drugs are expensive, but they’re hideously expensive to get to market and they wouldn’t be available at all under any other system.
They’re not the “be all and end all” of health and there’s a lot we can do to avoid having to use them, and they may well be too commonly used, but they get the job done and they’re passed the tests.
So love ‘em or hate ‘em they’re here. And if you’d like to know which ones we’re using the most, NursingSchools.net has compiled a list:
- Lipitor: Lipitor is prescribed to fight high cholesterol in patients. At its peak in 2006, it earned $13.7 billion. It is expected to fall in popularity, however, as its statin patent is set to expire next year.
- Humira: Humira, sold by Abbott Laboratories and Eisai treats rheumatoid arthritis. It is expected to have annual sales of $10.1 billion by 2016.
- Norvasc: Amlodipine, frequently sold as Norvasc from Pfizer, is a high blood pressure medication with 50.9 million prescriptions. It lost its patent protection in 2007, and generics have become popular.
- Hydrocodone: The painkiller Hydrocodone with Acetaminophen (APAP) was the most widely prescribed individual medication in 2008, with 124 million prescriptions. Hydrocodone and compounds with Hydrocodone are sold under a variety of trademarks, including Vicodin, Hydroccet, Hycodan, and Norco.
- Here are the rest: 10 Most Prescribed Medicines in America
By the way, there are those who have certain issues with the cholesterol issue and the drugs that are designed to reduce them. Amazon has a few others which can be found here: Cholestrol Myths
Tags: cholesterol, high cholesterol, pharma industry, prescribed drugs
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July 11th, 2010 at 11:34 am
It makes you wonder.. If this type of research was put into natural cures for these problems, would we see better results?
July 16th, 2010 at 9:07 am
Maybe, maybe not. There’s plenty of interesting stuff waiting to be found, but there are certain hurdles preventing that. IN addition you’d still have (or one would be created) a giant regulatory machine that would require safety tests, double blind studies, jump through hurdles, and so on. (BTW – Various natural cures have failed these tests.)
Then there’s the marketing to consider. Keep in mind that all of that has to be paid for and let’s not get into talk about Government paying for it, that’s a bad way to go.
It also depends on what is meant by “better results.” We’d have to agree on a set of standards to measure those results.
You comment would make an interesting post/rant. Maybe I’ll do something with it…