The coalition, composed of business, labor, and trade-association benefit plans, has called a news conference for Tuesday in Trenton to release its findings. At that time, the coalition will announce a task force of government, physicians, and hospitals that hopes to change the prescribing patterns of physicians, said David Knowlton, founder of the coalition. An official from the state Department of Health and Senior Services said he couldn't comment on the study, but that the state supports increased awareness of the need to curb antibiotic overuse. But the reason patients and physicians get this attitude is they give antibiotics to patients and they get better. It's hard to resist that experience.
People are very desperate.
Members of the coalition saw the cost of their pharmacy benefits rising more quickly than any other component of health expenses and wanted to learn why, said George Laufenberg, co-chairman of the coalition and president of the New Jersey Carpenters Health Fund. Researchers analyzed nearly 5,000 prescriptions dispensed to members of the carpenters fund for respiratory conditions in 1997. They studied only those cases in which the physician prescribed the drug on the patient's first visit for that specific problem, and eliminated cases where the patient had other reasons for needing medication. The fund insures members of the carpenters' union and their dependents around the state. Those over age 65 were excluded.