Most Patients Take Several Medications
August 1, 2001
If you visited a doctor's office recently, you probably left with several prescriptions, according to a new government survey. Experts attribute the increase in prescriptions to drug companies' aggressive marketing campaigns, as well as an increasingly elderly population. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 66% of appointments with doctors led to patients receiving prescriptions. 501 million of the 756 million doctor visits in 1999 included the dispensing of medication, normally via a prescription. This is a 5% increase from figures compiled in 1985. The increase may also be related to technological advances in prescription medications. Doctors now have a variety of medications to choose from, allowing them more aggressive treatment options.
Among the most prescribed drugs were allergy medication Claritin, cholesterol-lowering Lipitor, heartburn and ulcer medication Prilosec, and arthritis drug Celebrex.
Not surprisingly, the study found that drugs marketed directly to consumers via magazine ads and television commercials were the most heavily prescribed.
-- Article Courtesy of InjuryBoard.com
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