Thursday, March 5, 2009
Let them eat drugs: An update
An official tip of the hat today to the CDC.
Back in January, we wrote about how grocery store pharmacies were handing out free generic antibiotics....and how this might not be such a great way to curb the spread of antibiotic resistance.
Today, the New York Times reports that the CDC has sent letters to these places, asking them to dole out their medi-candy carefully. Of particular concern, says the article, is the fact that the stores are linking the drug giveaways to cold and flu season, thus intimating that antibiotics can cure these viral conditions. So the CDC basically said "Hey. Cut it out."
True, the CDC took a couple months to get around to doing this. And cold and flu season is already winding down. But if this had been in the hands of certain other three-lettered government agencies, it might not have happened till next Halloween.
Labels: antibiotics, CDC, FDA
posted by Jessica Berthold at
5:14 PM
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2 Comments:
In my experience you still have to have a valid perscription from a licensed physician to get these free antibiotics. I'm a single parent cancer survivor and there have been several times when the fact that I could pick up a free course of antibiotics was the determining factor on whether or not my daughter or I got the medication that our doctor felt that we needed. Just because it's free, doesn't mean that it's easy.
Thanks for you comment, Emmy. I've no doubt that free antibiotics are helpful to many. I think the fear, though, is that some patients who don't need them-- patients who, for eg, have colds that no antibiotic will cure-- will pressure their doctors into giving them unnecessary prescriptions (something that happens quite a lot). That in turn, could lead to antibiotic resistance, which means people who really need the drugs won't be able to be helped by them.
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