We’re a nation of pill-poppers
Prescriptions up 50% in the past decade One billion handed out every year Now experts warn of harmful side-effects
BRITONS are taking more medicines than ever before – with more than a billion prescriptions a year now being handed out, figures reveal today.
the number of prescriptions has risen by 50 per cent in a decade and is being driven by a surge in the use of antidepressants, painkillers, statins and drugs for diabetes.
Some elderly patients with a number of longterm illnesses end up taking a cocktail of different drugs each day, which can cause dangerous reactions.
the figures have alarmed medical experts, who say the nation has become ‘over-medicalised’ and that thousands of patients are suffering harmful side effects.
the huge rise has also been partly blamed on a bonus system for GPs that means they earn points, which are then converted into cash, for prescribing treatments for a range of common conditions.
Drugs companies have also been accused of overselling the benefits of treatments while underplaying the side effects.
Doctors say many patients would be better off just taking exercise, which has been shown to be more effective than drugs at treating a huge range of conditions including heart disease, arthritis and depression. Figures from the Health and Social Care Information Centre show that 1.06 billion prescriptions were written out by GPs and pharmacists last year, at a cost to the NHS of £8.85billion.
this works out as a notional average of 20 prescriptions a year per patient. But this estimate masks the fact that some patients never visit the doctor, while others are on more than 100 prescriptions a year to treat a combination of diseases.
One of the biggest rises was for antidepressants such as Prozac and Seroxat, with prescriptions leaping from 29million in 2004 to 57.1million last year.
they have also more than doubled for two of the most common types of cholesterol-fighting statins, rising from 25million to 60million. Prescriptions for painkillers including aspirin and paracetamol have increased by almost 50 per cent to 68.6 million last year.
But many common drugs cause serious and potentially fatal side effects, particularly if taken on repeat prescription over long periods of time.
Statins have been linked to muscle pain and diabetes, aspirin to stomach ulcers and antidepressants to weight gain, tiredness and possibly suicide.
Experts say GPs feel under pressure to prescribe patients a drug just to feel as though they are doing some good. this is not
‘Getting out of control’
helped by the fact that appointments last just ten minutes, meaning there is little time to discuss the benefits and risks of medications or offer alternatives.
Patients can end up in the absurd situation where they have to take ever more drugs to treat the side effects of those originally prescribed. Patients on statins can need painkillers if they experience muscle pain as a side effect, while drugs for high blood pressure can cause depression, so patients go on Prozac.
But the more drugs a patient takes, the higher the chance they will interact with each other and lead to harmful side effects.
Dr Aseem Malhotra, a Londonbased cardiologist and a senior member of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, which represents 220,000 doctors, said: ‘these figures are truly shocking. the third commonest cause of death after heart attacks and cancer is prescribed medication, basically side effects.
‘We need to be winding back from the harms of over-treating and over-medicalising patients. It should be a wake-up call to a system that is failing.
‘We are over-medicalising the population because of too much pressure from those with vested interests in the pharmaceutical industry. the system of pay for GPs means there are perverse incentives for them to prescribe drugs, because their earnings are linked to doing so.’
Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association, said the nation’s increasing reliance on pills was ‘starting to get out of control’, adding: ‘It underlines the fact that we are become a nation of “pill pushers”.’
Professor Dame Sue Bailey, chairman of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, said: ‘It’s of serious concern to the medical profession that the number of prescription items has increased so much. Doctors and patients should all recognise that resources aren’t unlimited in the NHS.’
the Academy issued new guidance in May urging doctors not to prescribe so many drugs. they said treatments can cause ‘substantial harm’ as well as incurring huge costs for the NHS, and told doctors to spell out the potential risks clearly to patients.