The Pill for Everything: Why Off-Label Gabapentin Prescriptions Are Soaring

Gabapentin is now the fifth most prescribed drug in the United States, with 95 percent of prescriptions for off-label uses.
The Pill for Everything: Why Off-Label Gabapentin Prescriptions Are Soaring
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What do hot flashes, back pain, and insomnia have in common? Increasingly, they all lead to the same prescription: gabapentin.

The anti-seizure medication has quietly become the fifth-most prescribed drug in the United States, not because seizure disorders are skyrocketing, but because doctors are writing millions of prescriptions for uses the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) never approved.

Kimberly Drake
Kimberly Drake
Author
Kimberly Drake is a health journalist and newspaper columnist with a decade of experience covering health and wellness topics. Her work has appeared in Healthline, Medical News Today, and other online and print publications. She also serves as governance board vice president for two charter schools for autistic students.