Repeated warnings that antibiotics don’t work for most sore throats and bronchitis have failed to stop overuse: Doctors prescribed these drugs for most adults seeking treatment at a rate that remained high over more than a decade, researchers found.
The results are in two analyses of national health surveys from the late 1990s to 2010, representing more than 2 million annual visits to doctors’ offices or emergency rooms.
Antibiotics can have bad side effects, including stomach pain and severe diarrhea, and inappropriate prescriptions put patients at needless risk. The practice also can cause drug-resistant germs.
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