Copyright 2008 Grand Rapids PressAll Rights Reserved Grand Rapid Press (Michigan) May 14, 2008 Wednesday ALL S EDITION
SECTION: NATIONAL; Pg. A4
LENGTH: 456 words
HEADLINE: Most insured Americans on meds; Good news and bad in health statistics
TRENTON, N.J. -- For the first time, it appears that more than half of all insured Americans are taking prescription medicines regularly for chronic health problems, a study shows.
The most widely used drugs are those to lower high blood pressure and cholesterol -- problems often linked to heart disease, obesity and diabetes.
The numbers were compiled by Medco Health Solutions Inc., which manages prescription benefits for about one in five Americans.
Experts say the data reflect not just worsening public health but better medicines for chronic conditions and more aggressive treatment by doctors. For example, more people are taking blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering medicines because they need them, said Dr. Daniel Jones, president of the American Heart Association.
In addition, there is the pharmaceutical industry's relentless advertising. With those factors unlikely to change, doctors say the proportion of Americans on chronic meds can only grow.
"Unless we do things to change the way we're managing health in this country ... things will get worse instead of getting better," predicted Jones, a heart specialist and dean of the University of Mississippi's medical school.
Americans buy much more medicine per person than any other country.
Medco's data show that, last year, 51 percent of American children and adults were taking one or more prescription drugs for a chronic condition, up from 50 percent the previous four years and 47 percent in 2001. Most drugs are taken daily, although some are needed less often.
The company examined records from 2001 to 2007 of a representative sample of 2.5 million customers, from newborns to the elderly.
Among seniors, 28 percent of women and nearly 22 percent of men take five or more medicines regularly.
Karen Walker of Paterson, N.J., takes 18 prescription medicines daily for high blood pressure, diabetes, chronic back and shoulder pain, asthma and the painful muscle disorder fibromyalgia.
"The only way I can do it and keep my sanity ... is I use pill boxes" to organize pills for each morning and night, said Walker, 57, a full-time nurse at an HIV clinic. Her 69-year-old husband, Charles, keeps his medicines lined up on his bureau: four pills for arthritis and heart disease, plus two inhalers for lung problems.
Dr. Robert Epstein, chief medical officer at Franklin Lakes, N.J.-based Medco, said he sees bad news and good in the findings.
"Honestly, a lot of it is related to obesity," he said. "We've become a couch potato culture, (and) it's a lot easier to pop a pill" than to exercise regularly or diet.
On the good side, he said, researchers have turned what used to be fatal diseases into chronic ones, including AIDS, some cancers, hemophilia and sickle-cell disease.
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