America’s best loved drugs: Report

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDApr 20 2011

According to the latest report from consulting firm IMS Health, Americans are consuming a lot of prescription drugs. And they seem especially fond of those to lower their cholesterol, relieve heartburn, aid in depressive disorders and lessen pain. Overall, however, their spending on such drugs is slowing.

According to the new report in 2010 Americans spent more than $307 billion on medication. That’s up over 2009, but only by 2.3%. The report reads, “A number of factors contributed to this comparatively and historically low growth, including fewer patient visits to doctors’ offices, patent expirations for branded products, expanded usage of existing generic products and less spending on new products.” Most of the money spent is on cancer drugs says the report.

The top five groups of drugs are;

1. Cholesterol lowering drugs – Also known as Statins, these drugs manage cholesterol to lower the risk of heart disease.. Lipitor tops the list.
2. Antidepressants – Also known as selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIS, are the most popular, but a range of drugs are used to improve mood, sleep and concentration in depressed patients.
3. Pain medications, also known as narcotic analgesics.
4. Beta blockers or drugs that lower blood pressure by blocking norepinephrine and epinephrine thereby reducing the heart rate.
5. Ace inhibitors – another group of drugs that lower blood pressure, but by dilating blood vessels.

The top five brands are;

1. Lipitor (a statin) that lowers cholesterol.
2. Nexium - prescribed for heartburn relief.
3. Plavix – used to reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke. Plavix keeps platelets in the blood from coagulating, preventing blood clots in people who have already had a heart attack or stroke, or for those at high risk.
4. Advair diskus – an inhaled medication to treat asthma symptoms or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It is made of two substances: fluticasone, a steroid to prevent inflammation, and salmeterol.
5. Abilify – an antipsychotic. It’s used to treat conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and has been heavily market