Our drug culture

The National Council on Patient Information and Education has provided statistical information about the US population and how prescription medications affect them. According to the council, most of the population taking prescription medications is taking them incorrectly. This, among other risks of taking prescription medications, is causing severe health issues amongst users.

• Nearly 2.7 billion retail prescriptions were dispensed in 1999, amounting to sales of $110 billion.
• In 1997, 44 percent of the prescriptions dispensed were refills.
• Almost two-thirds of Americans currently use medicines: 49 percent use prescription drugs, and 30 percent use nonprescription medications.
• Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) may be the fourth-to-sixth leading cause of death. Serious ADRs occur in 6.7 percent of hospitalized patients.
• 32 million Americans are taking three or more medications daily.
• Almost 29 percent of Americans stop taking their medicine before it runs out.
• 22 percent of Americans take less of the medication than is prescribed on the label.
• 12 percent of Americans don't fill their prescription at all.
• 12 percent of Americans don't take medication at all after they buy the prescription.
• The No.1 problem in treating illness today is patients' failure to take prescription medications correctly, regardless of patient age.
• 10 percent of all hospital admissions are the result of patients failing to take prescription medications correctly.
• 23 percent of all nursing home admissions are due to patients failing to take prescription medications accurately.
• At any given time, regardless of age group, up to 59 percent of those on five or more medications are taking them improperly.
• The average length of stay in hospitals due to medication noncompliance is 4.2 days.
• More than half of all Americans with chronic diseases don't follow their physician's medication and lifestyle guidance.
• Two-thirds of all Americans fail to take any or all of their prescription medicines.

Source for medication statistics: The National Council on Patient Information and Education

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