Americans will spend half their lives taking prescription drugs: Penn State study

If you’re an American, you’re probably on drugs — or will be someday soon.

A new study reveals that people born in the US today will spend about half of their lives taking prescription drugs.

And for women, the figure is closer to 60% of their lives.

“The years that people can expect to spend taking prescription drugs are now higher than they might spend in their first marriage, getting an education or being in the labor force,” study author Dr. Jessica Ho of the Pennsylvania State University said in a news release.

“As an American, I’d like to know what medications I’m putting in my body and how long I can expect to take them,” she added. “It’s important to recognize the central role that prescription drug use has taken on in our lives.”

Overprescribed drugs

And it’s not just one drug: Polypharmacy — when a person takes five or more drugs at the same time — has risen to alarming levels.

In the mid-1990s, most people taking prescription medicine were on one drug. But today, people taking prescription meds are likely to be taking five or more drugs simultaneously.

A 2019 report found that antidepressants, opioid pain medications, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) for indigestion and levothyroxine for thyroid issues were among the most overprescribed drugs in America.

Elsewhere research has revealed that antibiotics are often prescribed for symptoms like a sore throat or a cough when they shouldn’t be as most of those conditions are caused by viruses — rendering antibiotics, which attack bacteria, useless.

More drugs = more money

Long-term use of multiple prescription drugs has potential health impacts — but it also impacts our wallets.

From 1980 to 2018, per capita spending on prescription drugs spiked more than 700%, from $140 to $1,073, adjusted for inflation, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Prescription drug expenditures hit $335 billion in 2018, and that spending is projected to hit $875 billion by 2026.

Higher impacts on women

An average newborn boy in 2019 can expect to take prescription drugs for about 37 years, or 48% of his life. A newborn girl in 2019 could expect to take them for approximately 47.5 years, or 60% of her life.

The impacts on women are greater, the study suggests, because most American women are taking prescription drugs by age 15.

“We see that women start taking prescription drugs earlier than men do, and some of that is related to birth control and hormonal contraceptives,” Ho said. “But it is also related to greater use of psychotherapeutic drugs and painkillers among women.”

Reducing drug expenses

There are several ways to save on prescription drug costs: Switching from name-brand drugs to generic drugs is one strategy. And mail-order pharmacies may charge less for medications than a brick-and-mortar drugstore, according to Medicare.gov.

Some drug companies offer programs to help pay for medications, including for people enrolled in Medicare Part D drug coverage.

States, too, often offer help paying for prescriptions, drug plan premiums and other drug costs, typically referred to as a State Pharmaceutical Assistance Program.

Additionally, Medicare and Social Security have a program called Extra Help, which is a way for people with limited income and resources to get help with prescription drug costs.

“This paper is not trying to say that use of prescription drugs is good or bad,” Ho said. “Obviously, they have made a difference in treating many conditions, but there are growing concerns about how much is too much.

“There’s a large body of research that shows Americans are less healthy and live shorter lives than our counterparts in other high-income countries. The prescription drug piece is part and parcel of that reality. What we find is, even above and beyond what we might expect to be seeing, the rates of prescription drug use in the United States are extraordinarily high.”