Arkansas Gets a Dose of Bad Medicine

A health care study showed up in our inbox the other day, and these days we figure that means bad news.

We were right.

According to research by Express Scripts, which claims to manage pharmacy plans for 100 million Americans, the U.S. health care system wasted $418 billion on bad medication-related decisions in 2012. The “waste” was defined as “the excess cost of using brands instead of clinically equivalent generics, not taking medications as prescribed and using more expensive pharmacies than necessary,” according to the study.

Even more disturbing was Arkansas’ rank in the study. With per-resident waste totaling $1,434 last year, Arkansas was among the highest one-third of all 50 states. Compounding that is the fact Arkansas also ranks among the bottom 10 states in median household income, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

Frankly, it’s enough to make us sick.