3 ms·

> tools of last resort only to be used in emergencies, with great hesitation, and only when absolutely necessary. Really? And whose lives are you willing to

by swamp40 13y ago

> tools of last resort only to be used in emergencies, with great hesitation, and only when absolutely necessary. Really? And whose lives are you willing to play that game with? Your 8 y.o son, who just broke his arm and has new swelling three days after the arm has been set? Your wife, with a bladder infection so severe it's bleeding and she has a fever? "Sorry, son - your suffering is for the betterment of mankind. I'm pretty sure you'll survive." "Sorry, honey - let's just see if you can make it another week or two."

polarix 13y ago
How about the animals and hand-soap aficionados? Perhaps they could hold off for a bit?
coryrc 13y ago
Maybe GP didn't have the best wording, but I would classify those both as emergencies appropriate for antibiotic use -- you may only think them not because antibiotics are seen as so commonplace. Non-emergencies: * sore throat * lots of chickens packed in one place
ceejayoz 13y ago
Those examples both qualify as necessary and emergent. What's been happening for decades is things like kids getting a cold and doctors wanting to appease panicked parents by prescribing an antibiotic (that's obviously going to do nothing to a virus).
- bad_user 13y ago
  Exactly. And not even for more severe colds either, like when having fever or a red throat, but rather for freaking runny noses.
- swamp40 13y ago
  I'm not sure how prevalent your example is these days. I have plenty of recent experience bringing kids to pediatricians, and they do not hand out antibiotics like popcorn. They do lots of rapid in-office tests that detect strep, flu, swine flu, fungus etc. within minutes - so the diagnoses are much more accurate than in the past.
  - ceejayoz 13y ago
    Doctors are getting better about it because of better awareness of the problem. My kids' pediatrician is similarly good about it. Last year NY state started putting out "when does my child need antibiotics?" pamphlets that they have in the exam rooms.
AaronFriel 13y ago
What I'm saying is that we should have treated antibiotics, as a worldwide community, like a stockpile with a finite lifespan and only a limited availability. As few uses as possible, with the goal of saving lives, not making people "feel better". What I'm imagining is something like the Department of Energy, or even the CDC here, regulating the ability to prescribe antibiotics and establishing rules that must be followed for their use. Antibiotics would not be a privately exchanged commodity, but a highly regulated resource managed for the public good. So, would this hypothetical future involve antibiotics for your hypothetical cases? Probably? Possibly? If doctors discerned that the cause of the swelling was bacterial infection, if the bladder infection was threatening to the wife's future well-being? Then I'd suppose so. But you wouldn't get antibiotics just for being alive like you do now. They practically hand them out like candy at doctor's offices. Oh, you have a cough? Have a z-pak. Doesn't matter if it's a viral infection going around, who cares if giving you this drug just ensures that some day in the future we won't be able to treat someone who is actually dying with azithromycin. What's important is that taking these pills will make you feel like we're doing something to help.

by swamp40 13y ago

polarix 13y ago

How about the animals and hand-soap aficionados? Perhaps they could hold off for a bit?

coryrc 13y ago

Maybe GP didn't have the best wording, but I would classify those both as emergencies appropriate for antibiotic use -- you may only think them not because antibiotics are seen as so commonplace. Non-emergencies: * sore throat * lots of chickens packed in one place

ceejayoz 13y ago

Those examples both qualify as necessary and emergent. What's been happening for decades is things like kids getting a cold and doctors wanting to appease panicked parents by prescribing an antibiotic (that's obviously going to do nothing to a virus).

bad_user 13y ago
Exactly. And not even for more severe colds either, like when having fever or a red throat, but rather for freaking runny noses.
swamp40 13y ago
I'm not sure how prevalent your example is these days. I have plenty of recent experience bringing kids to pediatricians, and they do not hand out antibiotics like popcorn. They do lots of rapid in-office tests that detect strep, flu, swine flu, fungus etc. within minutes - so the diagnoses are much more accurate than in the past.
- ceejayoz 13y ago
  Doctors are getting better about it because of better awareness of the problem. My kids' pediatrician is similarly good about it. Last year NY state started putting out "when does my child need antibiotics?" pamphlets that they have in the exam rooms.

AaronFriel 13y ago

What I'm saying is that we should have treated antibiotics, as a worldwide community, like a stockpile with a finite lifespan and only a limited availability. As few uses as possible, with the goal of saving lives, not making people "feel better". What I'm imagining is something like the Department of Energy, or even the CDC here, regulating the ability to prescribe antibiotics and establishing rules that must be followed for their use. Antibiotics would not be a privately exchanged commodity, but a highly regulated resource managed for the public good. So, would this hypothetical future involve antibiotics for your hypothetical cases? Probably? Possibly? If doctors discerned that the cause of the swelling was bacterial infection, if the bladder infection was threatening to the wife's future well-being? Then I'd suppose so. But you wouldn't get antibiotics just for being alive like you do now. They practically hand them out like candy at doctor's offices. Oh, you have a cough? Have a z-pak. Doesn't matter if it's a viral infection going around, who cares if giving you this drug just ensures that some day in the future we won't be able to treat someone who is actually dying with azithromycin. What's important is that taking these pills will make you feel like we're doing something to help.