The 10 Most Prescribed Drugs Revealed

A new report from the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics (Norwalk, CT, USA), a pharmaceutical market intelligence firm, reveals trends in prescription drug use in the United States.

According to the report, 78% of the nearly 4 billion US prescriptions written in 2010 were for generic drugs, both unbranded and those still sold under a brand name. However, these generic drugs are not the ones generating revenues for pharmaceutical companies; the revenues are generated from drugs that are still new enough to be protected against generic competition. In order of number of prescriptions written in 2010, the 10 most-prescribed drugs are:

Generic Zocor (simvastatin), a cholesterol-lowering statin drug -- 94.1 million prescriptions
Lisinopril, a blood pressure drug -- 87.4 million prescriptions
Generic Synthroid 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
Azithromycin, an antibiotic -- 52.6 million prescriptions
Amoxicillin, an antibiotic -- 52.3 million prescriptions
Generic Glucophage (metformin), a diabetes drug -- 48.3 million prescriptions
Hydrochlorothiazide, a diuretic used to lower blood pressure -- 47.8 million prescriptions.

Regarding revenues, the IMS reports that Americans spent US$307 billion on prescription drugs in 2010. Commercial insurance helped pay for 63% of prescriptions, while Federal government spending through Medicare covered 22% of prescriptions. The 10 drugs on which most money was spent were:

Lipitor, a cholesterol-lowering statin drug -- $7.2 billion
Nexium, an antacid drug -- $6.3 billion
Plavix, a blood thinner -- $6.1 billion
Advair Diskus, an asthma inhaler -- $4.7 billion
Abilify, an antipsychotic drug -- $4.6 billion
Seroquel, an antipsychotic drug -- $4.4 billion
Singulair, an oral asthma drug -- $4.1 billion
Crestor, a cholesterol-lowering statin drug -- $3.8 billion
Actos, a diabetes drug -- $3.5 billion
Epogen, an injectable anemia drug -- $3.3 billion

The 2010 IMS report also found that patients filled more than half of their prescriptions (54%) at chain drugstores, possibly because of discounts on generic drugs. Brands that lost their protection from generic competition led to $12.6 billion less spending in 2010 than in 2009. On the other hand, the price increase for drugs without generic competition led to $16.6 billion more spending in 2010 than in 2009. Drug companies offered $4.5 billion in rebates to assist patients with the high cost of brand name drugs for which there was no generic alternative.

Related Links:
IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics