Easy Access To Antibiotics May Not Be The Cure
DETROIT (WWJ) - A new study shows that doctors are prescribing too many antibiotics. The research involved looking at Blue Cross-Blue Shield data.
Marianne Udow-Phillips is with the Center For Health Care Research and Transformation at the University of Michigan. She explains the problem with over-prescribing antibiotics.
"The problem with getting antibiotics when you don't need it is that you become resistant--and then when you really need it, you are in trouble."
Udow-Phillips says that when people use antibiotics when they are not needed, a body becomes resistant and antibiotics don't have the intented effect.
She says the problem is less pronounced in southeast Michigan than out-state.