It Is Painful

Generic Vicodin Was a Top Medicare Drug in 2013, Data Shows

Generic Vicodin’s ranking as the drug most widely prescribed to Medicare beneficiaries in 2013 illustrates how comfortable doctors have become reaching for this powerful painkiller for primary care, despite its potential for abuse.

An analysis of data released last week on Medicare’s prescription-drug program found that more than half of the prescriptions for the drug, known generically as hydrocodone acetaminophen, came from family-practice or internal-medicine physicians. Those two specialties represented just under a quarter of the more than one million providers in the data.

Researchers said the findings reflect the years-long increase in the use of opioid painkillers in the U.S., which comes in tandem with concerns about abuse. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly two million Americans either abused or were dependent on opioids in 2013. “It’s striking that the drug prescribed to the most beneficiaries is a narcotic painkiller that can be addictive,” said Walid Gellad, an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

About 691,000 providers prescribed the painkiller in 2013, including surgeons, dentists and pain experts. That compared with roughly 555,000 who prescribed the No. 2 drug, an antibiotic. Overall, more than eight million Medicare beneficiaries were prescribed the painkiller. 

This report is from today’s Wall Street Journal.