About 30% of antibiotics that are prescribed in doctor’s offices, clinics and emergency rooms are unnecessary, according to a new report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The researchers looked at medical care survey data from 2010-2011 to analyze rates of prescriptions for oral antibiotics. The study authors looked for cases where the medication prescribed was “inappropriate”, meaning it wasn’t necessary, or when the wrong antibiotic was chosen, the dosage wasn’t right or the drug was used for too long or too short a time.
