This issue will hit harder on people's wallets because we are in the midst of economic crisis and cutting dosage to save money is a trend that will continue. But did you know that the most prescribed drugs in America according to the CDC are antidepressants? YES! Anti-depressants are the most commonly prescribed drugs in the U.S., totaling 118 million prescriptions in 2005 and I am sure that number has gone up.
We need to ask ourselves why are we taking anti-depressants? Are doctors over precribing them? Is the medical community failing to consider options to these drugs?
This link lists the top most prescribed drugs from a 2005 report. Pretty scarry trend when you think about it. http://www.rxlist.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=79509
In regards to the issue of generic drugs, I think they will be the only ones approved by health plans (with exceptions) and people will continue to shift their care to more non-traditional treatments such as: accupunture, holistic treatments, homeopathy, etc.
On an previous posting on generic versus brand, I shared my concerns. It is a national priority to start thinking about shifting to generic drugs to reduce cost and save our healthcare system. Big pharma continues to fight hard to keep people believing that brand name is better. Most brand drugs will end up as generics at some point according to FDA patent agreements and regulations. There are several drugs already waiting for the timetable to be available for open manufacturing.
The link shows the politics around this issue including consumer perception about generics
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This issue will hit harder on people's wallets because we are in the midst of economic crisis and cutting dosage to save money is a trend that will continue. But did you know that the most prescribed drugs in America according to the CDC are antidepressants? YES! Anti-depressants are the most commonly prescribed drugs in the U.S., totaling 118 million prescriptions in 2005 and I am sure that number has gone up.
We need to ask ourselves why are we taking anti-depressants? Are doctors over precribing them? Is the medical community failing to consider options to these drugs?
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/07/09/antidepressants/index.html
This link lists the top most prescribed drugs from a 2005 report. Pretty scarry trend when you think about it. http://www.rxlist.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=79509
In regards to the issue of generic drugs, I think they will be the only ones approved by health plans (with exceptions) and people will continue to shift their care to more non-traditional treatments such as: accupunture, holistic treatments, homeopathy, etc.
On an previous posting on generic versus brand, I shared my concerns. It is a national priority to start thinking about shifting to generic drugs to reduce cost and save our healthcare system. Big pharma continues to fight hard to keep people believing that brand name is better. Most brand drugs will end up as generics at some point according to FDA patent agreements and regulations. There are several drugs already waiting for the timetable to be available for open manufacturing.
The link shows the politics around this issue including consumer perception about generics
http://money.cnn.com/2006/06/15/news/companies/zoloft_zocor/index.htm
December 24, 2008 - 1:55amThis Comment
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