Drug Prescriptions Have Doubled in the Last 20 Years

According to the research firm Quintile IMS, about 55% of Americans regularly take a prescription medication. Additionally, the number of prescriptions filled by Americans rose 85% between 1997 and 2016, from 2.4 billion to 4.5 billion a year. By contrast, the population of the country only rose 21% during this time. Experts fear that many of these medications may be unnecessary and might do more harm than good. Consumer Reports, August 2017