OKLAHOMA CITY – Almost one of every five Americans takes medication for high blood pressure, and more than one of every seven takes a prescription for high cholesterol.
Those statistics are derived from calendar year 2019 data analyzed and then released in 2021 by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, along with supporting drug and health information from MedlinePlus.
The most prescribed drug in the U.S. in 2019 was Atorvastatin, sold under the brand name Lipitor to 24.5 million Americans; another 20 million Americans took Crestor, Zocor, or some other statin medication.
Statins are used to prevent cardiovascular disease and to treat abnormal lipid levels. In all, 39.1 million people in the U.S. were prescribed nearly 176 million cholesterol medications in 2019.
Of the 30 leading drugs prescribed for Americans in 2019, four were medications for high blood pressure. More than 291 million prescriptions that year were written for Lisinopril and three other drugs to treat high blood pressure. Research indicates that a majority of the most-prescribed drugs in the U.S. are used to treat high blood pressure or symptoms of it.
The number of patients with prescribed medications for blood pressure or cholesterol reportedly constitute approximately one-third of the U.S. population.
Other common prescriptions include antibiotics such as Amoxicillin for treatment of bacterial infections.
Levothyroxine, for treating thyroid hormone deficiency, was the fourth-most prescribed drug by number of patients (almost 19.7 million) but was the second-most prescribed drug by total prescriptions (almost 102.6 million).
The asthma medication Albuterol, typically prescribed through an inhaler, logged the fifth-highest number of patients in 2019 (19 million). The leading drug prescribed for diabetes was the type 2 medication Glucophage.
The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control does not “track or keep statistics on noncontrolled drugs” sold in this state, such as antibiotics, asthma medicines, heart medications, etc., said Mark Woodward, the agency’s public information officer and legislative liaison.
OBN tracks only controlled prescription drugs that can be acquired only from a pharmacist, he said. “These include painkillers, antidepressants, and other powerful Schedule 2 through Schedule 5 controlled drugs,” Woodward said.
The top three controlled medications prescribed in Oklahoma in 2019 were pain relievers.
By a margin of greater than 2-to-1, more prescriptions were written in Oklahoma for the painkiller hydrocodone than for any other controlled drug. Ranking second was the opioid pain reliever oxycodone, marketed as Oxycontin and Percocet. Tramadol, marketed as Ultram, came in third. Xanax, for treating anxiety and panic disorders, was the fourth most-prescribed drug in this state in 2019.
