Call to punish GPs over antibiotics

[maureenho]

Call to punish GPs over antibiotics
By James Gallagher Health editor, BBC News website

"Soft-touch" and "hazardous" doctors should be disciplined for prescribing too many antibiotics, a leading NHS figure says.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's Prof Mark Baker said 10 million prescriptions a year in England were inappropriate.

He said regulators need to deal with overprescribing doctors who failed to change their ways.

The Royal College of GPs said the call was "counter-productive and unhelpful".

There is universal consensus that the very basis of modern medicine is under threat due to rising numbers of infections that are resistant to drugs.

The "antibiotic apocalypse" not only means that long-forgotten infections could kill again, but jeopardises procedures including surgery and chemotherapy.

Using antibiotics inappropriately for sore throats and colds increases the risk of resistance. Yet the number of prescriptions continues to rise.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-33961241

[annie]

We have known for years that the overuse of antibs have given rise to the superbugs , resistant to them, so why on earth are they still prescribing them willy nilly?