As time pressures increase for PCPs, expect more of this to continue. It takes less time to give an antibiotic than it is to counsel and test:
About 14 percent of U.S. children visit a health professional at least once a year for serious sore throat, and over two-thirds of these are prescribed antibiotics, according to a survey by HHS’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.But the federal survey also found that roughly 1 of every 5 children prescribed an antibiotic did not receive a throat swab to confirm a bacterial infection. Sore throats caused by bacteria can be cured by antibiotics; those caused by viruses cannot.
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{ 3 comments }
Alas, with my lack of time, I’ve been putting off a similar article for a few weeks.
I’m thinking that many doctors are prescribing antibiotics as placebo for patients who feel “entitled” to a prescription simply because they come to a doctor’s office. It’s easier than fighting with a patient, and in many cases, by the time something like a Z-pak is coming to an end, the patient’s immune system has naturally fought off virus du jour.
This seems to be a problem quite prevalent in college towns.
I’m not a social worker, I’m running a crazy over-run assembly line. I can’t have pts. sit in my ER waiting for a strep screen to come back when there are 50 more in the waiting room just waiting to come back. I just give them all penicillin. Alas, if the patient bounces back, at least I did “all I could” to ward off the future lawyers out there.
How do I get my family practice to not give me placebo antibiotics?
I don’t get to have a relationship with a specific doctor at the family practice I go to. It’s a different doctor every time.
I am happy to be told that antibiotics are not appropriate. I am not insured, and I would prefer not to pay for or take antibiotics that I don’t need.
However I have the suspicion that on one or two occasions I have been prescribed antibiotics as a placebo.
I’m not particularly upset about this. My mother is a Physician’s Assistant and I sympathize with the difficulties doctors labor under these days.
However, I would love any advice/suggestions on how I can address this issue (remember, different doctor almost every time) in a way that won’t cause defensiveness, resentment, or distrust of my motives.
-Courteous Patient
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