Antibiotics Too Often Prescribed for Sinus Woes

Posted on March 22, 2007  Comments (12)

This is not one of the more amazing articles, rather one more in the long line of those reporting on the overuse of anti-biotics: Antibiotics Too Often Prescribed for Sinus Woes:

But it’s hard to preach that wisdom to someone with a drippy, hurting sinus who wants immediate relief, Leopold acknowledged. Because more effective drugs are lacking, “patients are desperate, physicians are desperate, and it is not a happy situation,” he said.

I guess I am just out of touch but why do physicians think it is ok to practice bad medicine because people will whine if they try to practice sensible medicine? These stories often tell of doctors that can’t say no to patients even if it means going against what is the best medical advice. Is it any wonder that helath costs continue to escalate, now totaling 16% of GDP, with such practices accepted? How hard is it to say, yeah great you want x drug, that is not medically advisable and is only available by prescription because it is not advisable for people to decide they need it but rather physicians are suppose to make that decision.

And so the physician often makes the practical choice of giving what the patient wants, with a chance of relief, over the more abstract issue of antibiotic resistance, he said.

I understand this reality. I just find it very sad that that professionals sacrifice the future to today’s ignorance and short sightedness. I wish physicians would not reward those demanding they get what they want today since they are simultaneously condemning others to suffer the consequences of such decisions.

But I also want us to stop spending our grandchildren’s money today. Still the politicians act just like the physicians choosing to give the voters what they want today and let someone else deal with the consequences later. Current USA federal deficit: $8,841,291,672,873 (see live debt clock), $29,349 for every citizen of the USA. It seems pretty obvious the same willingness to sacrifice the future for an easier life today is at the root of the actions by both doctors and politicians. Thankfully some are trying to counter this behavior, by both parties, to varying success.

Related: CDC Urges Increased Effort to Reduce Drug-Resistant InfectionsAntibiotics related postsAntibiotic resistance: How do antibiotics kill bacteria?

12 Responses to “Antibiotics Too Often Prescribed for Sinus Woes”

  1. CuriousCat: Extensively Drug-resistant Tuberculosis (XDR TB)
    May 24th, 2007 @ 3:45 pm

    […] As we have discussed previously, antibiotic resistance is a huge problem today and especially looming in the future. Perhaps we will find new fantanstic cures but the failure to take sensible action puts us at great risk […]

  2. CuriousCat: Tuberculosis Risk
    June 3rd, 2007 @ 12:06 pm

    The risks are well known, given the extreme mobility in the world today, for TB, and other communicable diseases, becoming more troublesome, costly and deadly – often due to improper antibiotic use. But we continue to avoid giving this risk near the level of attention it seems to deserve…

  3. CuriousCat: New and Old Ways to Make Flu Vaccines
    November 9th, 2007 @ 9:08 am

    “This vaccine can be produced in giant vats of living cells. Such a production method means it can be scaled up much faster than egg-based vaccines, making it more useful in a pandemic. Several versions have been tested successfully in people…”

  4. CuriousCat: Bacteria Race Ahead of Drugs
    January 21st, 2008 @ 10:08 am

    This is a serious problem. And it is sad to see yet another example of well know scientific facts being ignored and by so doing threatening the healthy lives of others. i just finished a great book on bacteria and human health – Good Germs, Bad Germs…

  5. CuriousCat: From Ghost Writing to Ghost Management in Medical Journals
    January 27th, 2008 @ 7:16 pm

    “I can see no justification for honorary authorships. Why can’t people just be honest. Is that really too high an expectation for scientists?”

  6. Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog » Confusing Customer Focus
    April 10th, 2008 @ 8:40 am

    I would say doctors don’t give patients anti-biotics for viral infections (but actually they do). They shouldn’t. When doctors behave irresponsibly…

  7. Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog » Over-reliance on Prescription Drugs to Aid Children’s Sleep?
    July 6th, 2008 @ 6:37 pm

    Along with the perception (which I share) that we look to pills to fix problems too often (and the belief that drugs have risks and should not be overused) this is not good news…

  8. Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog » Marketing Drugs
    March 28th, 2009 @ 3:05 pm

    […] patients are driven more by marketing than medicine. Much worse though, doctors seem to bend to these patients marketing driven desires. Plus the corrupting influence of money on research and marketing to doctors seems likely a […]

  9. Just Say No to Antibiotics
    April 23rd, 2009 @ 12:26 am

    […] at the request of patients. These days, it seems doctors and patients alike are too quick too reach for drugs to cure any […]

  10. What Happens If the Overuse of Antibiotics Leads to Them No Longer Working? » Curious Cat Science Blog
    August 9th, 2011 @ 8:31 pm

    Antibiotics have been a miraculous tool to keep up healthy. Like vaccines this full value of this tool is wasted if it is used improperly. Vaccines value is wasted when they are not used enough. Antibiotics lose potency when they are overused…

  11. Our Dangerous Antibiotic Practices Carry Great Risks » Curious Cat Science Blog
    July 12th, 2012 @ 6:54 am

    Our continued poor antibiotics practices increase the risk of many deaths. We are very poor at reacting to bad practices that will kill many people in the future…

  12. CDC Again Stresses Urgent Need to Adjust Practices or Pay a Step Price » Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog
    March 8th, 2013 @ 3:57 am

    […] travesty has been how poorly health care professionals have been about prescribe antibiotics wisely We need to improve and follow CDC antibiotics guidelines (stop the overuse of antibiotics) and use […]

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