An estimated 110 million medicine items prescribed by doctors in England each year are not needed, a government-commissioned review into overprescribing has found. The government vowed to tackle the problem after the new review was published on Wednesday. The review (pdf), led by the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for England Dr. Keith Ridge, estimated that one-tenth of the prescription medicines (about 110 million items), are either inappropriate for that patients’ circumstances and wishes, or could be better served with alternative treatments. According to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), prescriptions are deemed unnecessary when a better alternative is available but not prescribed, the medicine is appropriate for a condition but not the individual patient, a condition changes and the medicine is no longer appropriate, or the patient no longer needs the medicine but continues to be prescribed it. Official figures show that the number of prescription items dispensed in primary care and the community …
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