Did you know that American children 10 years and younger are 50% more likely to be treated with oral antibiotics than children of the same age in the United Kingdom? This is a conclusion of the study published by the journal “Pharmacotherapy” in December 2013 following an analysis of 160,000 charts from each country. Another interesting fact discovered was 5 times higher total cost of prescribed antibiotics within the same groups of children in the United States in comparison with the United Kingdom. The study raises a lot of questions. What drives this discrepancy in usage? Parental pressure? Malpractice pressure? Pharmaceutical companies, making exuberant profits in the American market?
The difference is striking.
The difference is striking.
Sergei Shushunov, MD
