Facts & Statistics

• Based on a 2002 survey, 46% of Americans use at least one prescription drug daily.
• Total number of prescriptions filled in 2001:  3.1 billion
• Total cost of prescriptions in 2001: $132 billion
• Projected cost of prescriptions in 2014: $414 billion
• Percentage of incoming undergraduates using psychotropic, mind-altering drugs:  40%
• From 1992 – 2003, the abuse of psychotropic drugs grew at twice the rate of marijuana abuse; five times that of cocaine abuse; & 60 times that of heroin abuse.
• 20% of recently approved prescription drugs have serious, life threatening side effects. 
• 90% of authors of clinical practice guidelines received research funding from, or acted as consultants to drug companies. 
• Medical doctors, psychiatrists, & all those licensed by the government who can “legally” prescribe drugs are paid huge monetary incentives by the pharmaceutical industry to write prescriptions of their drugs. Those doctors & other professionals who choose financial incentives over a patients well being & health should be defined as “legal drug pushers” contributing to the overmedicating of America for profit.
• Percentage increase from 1985 – 1999 in stimulant psychotropic drugs prescribed to children: 327%
• Percentage increase from 1991 – 2000 in stimulant psychotropic drugs prescribed to preschoolers between 2 & 4 years of age: 50%
• The number of antidepressants prescribed annually for children under 19: 11 million 
• The number of children diagnosed with “ADD/ADHD” & drugged in 1985: 500,000
• The number of children diagnosed with “ADD/ADHD” & drugged today: approximately 6 million
• CHADD (Children and Adults with ADD) received over $700,000 in 2001 from pharmaceutical companies to promote & market their drugs.
• CHADD refers to the 1999 Surgeon General’s Report on Mental Health when citing ADHD as a neurobiological disorder, yet the Surgeon General’s report, the DSM-IV, the National Institutes of Health, and the American Academy of Pediatrics Clinical Practice Guideline for ADHD, do not confirm or state that ADHD is a “neurobiological” disorder. In fact, the Surgeon General provided no conclusive evidence to support this theory—a fact CHADD neglects to mention on its website.
• The epidemic use of psychotropic drugs started many years ago. In 1965, approximately 58 million new prescriptions & 108 million refills were written for psychotropic drugs. This accounted for 14% of all prescriptions written that year.
• Percentage of Americans taking anti-allergy medications who may not even have allergies: 65%
• The number of signs advertising the drug Claritin in Newark International Airport lobbies:  75
• The amount spent by Merck Pharmaceutical to advertise the drug Vioxx in 2001:  $161 million
• The total number of advertising violations issued by the FDA for misleading drug ads from 1997 – 2001:  88; Amount of fines levied for such violations: $0
• US direct-to-consumer drug ad spending soared to $2.49 billion in 2001 up from $859 million in 1997.
• Number of Americans annually who request & receive a prescription for a specific drug after seeing a commercial for it: 8.5 million
• Estimated prescriptions of Paxil in 2002: 37 million
• Amount spent on lobbying by pharmaceutical companies from 1996 – 2002: $500 million
• The number of former congressmen now serving as lobbyists for the pharmaceutical industry: 24
• The approximate total number of lobbyists: 600; Their average annual income: $300,000 – $400,000
• The amount of direct contributions from the drug industry to the 2002 political campaign: $20 million; Percentage that went to Republicans: 75%
• Seven drugs recalled by the FDA between 1993 & 2000 after reports of death & severe side effects exceeded $5 billion in sales before being withdrawn.
• The major stockholders of the pharmaceutical industry: FDA workers, FTC workers, Congressmen, & the CEO’s of the pharmaceutical companies.
• The Annual cost of prescription drug errors: $100 billion
• A natural herbal cure was found for diabetes. The amount paid to the person that discovered it to not market or announce the cure: $30 million
• Out of the last 20 FDA commissioners, upon leaving the FDA, the number who went to work directly for the pharmaceutical industry: 12
• The approximate number of Americans that die annually from FDA approved drugs: 125,000
• The approximate number of Americans that die annually from Aspirin use: 2,000
• The percentage of FDA workers who are paid directly through funding from the pharmaceutical industry:  55% at an average of $1.2 billion annually
• The FDA passed a law stating that only a “drug” can cure a disease therefore; farms, orchards, or any company promoting fruit as beneficial to your health were threatened with violations & the confiscation & destruction of their products. Their “cherries” for example were not approved as a new drug by the FDA & were not declared as “safe & effective”. The average cost to get a “new drug” approved: $800 million.  Sound unbelievable? Actual FDA letter sent to a farm marketing cherries as a natural remedy.
• In 2004 approximately 12,000 Texas Foster Children each received 21 prescriptions of psychotropic drugs totally more than $29 million.
• According to a recent study, up to 20% of all prescriptions written are for “off-label” use not approved by the FDA & with no support from scientific studies.
• According to a recent study, 96% of all “off-label” psychiatric drug prescriptions lacked scientific support.
• 25% of 239 patients consuming Vioxx had heart attacks within the first 13 days of  being on the drug. Vioxx was pulled from the market on September 30th, 2004.
• The amount of money the pharmaceutical industry & the FDA would loose if Americans turned to natural cures (vitamins, minerals, herbs, fruit, etc.) instead of prescription drugs: trillions!

Statistics Resource