America The Medicated Nation

A report out by Medco Health Solutions, a pharmacy benefits management company, claims that over half of all insured Americans are taking prescription drugs of some kind. That's the first time the percentage has ever passed 50 percent.

The most commonly used drugs according to Medco were blood pressure and cholesterol drugs. That goes against what IMS Health reported earlier this year when its own figures showed that anti-depressants were the most widely used class of drugs in America. I assume they are looking at different datasets of drug use. I wasn't able to locate a copy of the Medco report.

Anyhow, America has sure become a medicated nation and you can read this AP account of the report for opinions on what's driving all of this. Medill Reports dug into the data a bit more and found that psych meds were stars:

"Nearly half of women ages 20 to 44 are being treated for a chronic condition, according to the research. Antidepressants are the most commonly used medication among this group, consumed by 16 percent of the demographic.

"While 16 percent is a substantial statistic, more evaluation needs to be done to determine if this drug category is being properly prescribed, [Caleb] Alexander [University of Chicago expert] said. Many people are on antidepressants who do not need them, but ironically many people need to be on them who are not, he said, adding that advertising might have a role in overall increased prescription drug use."

Sixteen percent is an extremely high number. Just as striking was a reported explosion of ADHD med use among girls:

"For youth age 19 and under, the research ranks asthma and allergy drugs as the most commonly prescribed, followed by medications for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and antidepressants. The number of girls taking ADHD medication rose 72 percent from 2001 to 2007, a spike Alexander said is staggering.

"'There’s no question that there is a subset of children … that require these [ADHD drugs],' Alexander said, 'but I think it’s a legitimate concern that some of these medicines may be overused in children to treat conditions that don’t truly represent a serious deviation from normal adolescence.'"

Staggering doesn't even begin to describe that jump in ADHD med use amongst girls.