The AMS Health and Dental plan covers 39,345 students, which means a lot of claims for prescription medication go through UBC’s student society. We dug through the 2015/16 annual report put together by Student Care, the plan’s administrator, to see which drugs are most often prescribed to students at UBC through the AMS plan.
There were 67,484 claims made over the last academic year. Of that number — not counting the flu vaccine — contraceptives were by far the most popular category of drug, with 17,131 claims or just over a quarter of all prescriptions.
Of the 15 most-prescribed drugs — again not counting Influvac — birth control accounted for 59 per cent. The rest of the list was made up of medication for urinary tract infections, depression, anxiety, ADHD, pain and general antibiotics.
Here’s the full list of the top 15:
1. Influvac
Flu vaccine — 5,160 claims
2. Alysena 28
Birth control — 1,723 claims
3. Alesse 28
Birth control — 1,600 claims
4. Alesse 21
Birth control — 1,089 claims
5. Macrobid
Urinary tract infection medication — 1,009 claims
6. Alysena 21
Birth control — 1,008 claims
7. Ran-Escitalopram
Depression/anxiety medication — 935 claims
8. Nuvaring
Birth control — 738 claims
9. Amoxicillin
Antibiotic (fights tonsillitis, bronchitis, gonorrhea, etc.) — 690 claims
10. Dexedrine spansule src 10mg
ADHD medication — 669 claims
11. Ratio-lenoltec No. 3
Pain relief medication — 602 claims
12. Pen-VK
Penicillin (antibacterial medication) — 597 claims
13. Plan B
Emergency contraceptive (the “morning after pill”) — 574 claims
14. Mirena
Intrauterine device (birth control) — 550 claims
15. Mirvala 28
Birth control — 541 claims