Prescription drug misuse costs $76.6 bil. annually -- Archives of Internal Medicine study.

PRESCRIPTION DRUG MISUSE ESTIMATED TO COST $76.6 BIL. PER YEAR, according to an Archives of Internal Medicine study of outpatient pharmaceutical use published in the Oct. 9 issue. The study, conducted by Jeffrey Johnson et al. of the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy, used a "probability pathway model" to estimate the cost of drug-related morbidity and mortality in the U.S. The cost model was constructed from descriptions and probabilities of drug-related problems and negative therapeutic outcomes described in medical literature.