thedailybeast.com, 9 November 2014
The best-selling drug in America isn’t what you think—and it’s a whole lot more powerful than you’d expect.
Quick: what’s the top-selling drug in the United States?
Prozac? Viagra? Maybe something for heart disease?
Nope—Abilify, the powerful anti-psychotic medication that’s now widely used to treat depression. From April 2013, through March 2014, sales of Abilify (official name, aripriprazole) totaled $6,885,243,368—that’s right, almost $6.9 billion. That’s more than all other major anti-depressants combined.
And yet, the FDA says that the way Abilify works is “unknown.” Unknown! As in, we have no idea why this medication seems to help people with bipolar disorder. But go ahead and try it anyway, since it seems to work somehow.
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