Every health-care provider encounters patients who think they know more than physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners who have spent many years in school and have undergone training before their respective states have entrusted them with the responsibility of treating patients and prescribing prescription drugs, including antibiotics.
Some patients practically demand antibiotics for themselves or their children. Some do not complete the prescribed course of medication. Some take antibiotics for viral-caused diseases, which is pointless because antibiotics are effective only against bacteria. This rampant misuse of antibiotics is contributing to the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In Utah; health-care officials have observed a tenfold increase in resistance over a three-year period.
Until recently, medical science has kept pace with the misuse by developing new antibiotics. But some bacteria have become so resistant to traditional treatment that Utah health-care providers are devising ways to alter how doctors prescribe and patients take antibiotics. We hope these changes will encourage stubborn patients to take a long-term view of their health and bolster the resolution of health-care providers who need to tell demanding patients "no."
This problem is not unique to Utah. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that 75 percent of antibiotics prescribed in outpatient settings are for respiratory infections but offer little or no benefit and contribute to the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Some 50 million antibiotic prescriptions each year are for illnesses that do not respond to antibiotics.
Physicians in Delta are undertaking a pilot project to attempt to reverse this trend. They have agreed on treatment plans for specific illnesses that require antibiotics. They will not prescribe antibiotics unless the illness is bacterially caused. Then, physicians will begin treatment with a basic antibiotic. If the illness does not respond to that treatment, physicians will slowly move on to the next drug, which should stem the development of resistance to more complex antibiotics.
If this team approach is effective, the program will expand in other locations in Utah.
Credit members of the medical community for taking steps to attempt to reign in this problem, which will only deteriorate unless steps are taken now.