Americans That Are Prescribed Drugs From Doctors, How Many Actually Fill and Follow the Prescription?

Published July 23, 2013

Question by Ratlinram: Americans that are prescribed drugs from doctors, how many actually fill and follow the prescription?
Yes, I am trying to get a creditable statistic.

Best answer:

Answer by vv
It’s hard to put a figure on this.
I should think that about 90% of prescriptions are filled when originally written and that (absent a financial problem) about 75% of those religiously follow directions as written and take all their medications.
There is an outfit on the West Coast that keeps these stats; IMS.

Answer by Kaytee Dee
“The National Institutes of Health (NIH) estimates that close to 20 percent of people (48 million) over the age of 12 in the U.S. have used prescription drugs for non-medical purposes.”

Just search for “prescription abuse statistics”. I’m sure you’ll get lots of hits.