Why aren't antibiotics sold over the counter in the US?
Question:
Answers:
To stop incorrect use. And that's not just overdosing.
The biggest problem in fighting bacterial infections today is resistance to commonly used antibiotics, especially in hospital-acquired infections. Doctors have already distributed too many antibiotics for the wrong reasons which has led to high prevalence of antibiotic resistance which means that the drugs are no longer effective. "Super-bugs" like MRSA (methicillin/multi-resistant S. aureus) and VRE (vancomycin-resistant Enterococci) have been generated by powerful antibiotics being used unecessarily when others could have been used to treat the same infection. Now these bugs have limited therapeautic options left and some have mutated further so we really have nothing else to use against them.
Un-authorised distribution of antibiotics can be disastrous and since the doctors can't always get it right, making them available for the public to decide what to use would be disastrous.
Allergies are a big problem for the one person who takes the wrong medication which is a good reason to not sell them over the counter in the first place, but the other is to prevent more wide-spread problems.
Despite what it may seem, it is not a deliberate money-making scheme. It is a necessary protection for the consumers, the manufacturers and the general public.
Other Answers:
That's the thing!! If they sold antibiotics over the counter the doctors will loose all the insurance money that people pay for co-pays. It is a sick world indeed. But since I have been on Juice Plus+ , I have not had to take any medications for the last two and that goes for my kids too!! It's an all natural fruits and vegetables formed into a capsule. It is wonderful!!!
If people take too many antibiotics then the bacteria will eventually get used to them and become immune. So the antibiotics we have now will be ineffective and super germs will develop that we can't stop. So we don't need every random fool taking them just for a cold. A doctor decides if you really need them, then gives you a prescription.
Lisa P had it right. But you need to know about "unintended consequenses". That's where you think you're treating one problem and something you don't even know about gets way worse.
Cheers
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