Paracetamol most prescribed drug in New Zealand

Newly released figures show Paracetamol was the most-prescribed drug in New Zealand last year.

Minister of Health Annette King released a list of the country's 20 most often prescribed pharmaceuticals in reply to a question from the Green Party's Sue Kedgley.

Nearly 990,000 scripts were written for Paracetamol in the year to the end of December.

Amoxycillin, an anti-bacterial drug, was second on the list with just over 700,000 prescriptions.

Three asthma, two ulcer and two heart disease drugs featuring in the top 20.

Asprin was seventh on the list.