People take an average of eight prescriptions per year, many of them for conditions that could be improved by better diet and exercise, he said. Impatience and a lack of tolerance of temporary discomfort or annoying symptoms. Not understanding or believing that it's normal for colds and coughs to take two to three weeks to go away, and that antibiotics don't shorten that time. Or that the color of discharge from an infection says nothing about whether it's viral or bacterial. Not trusting your doctor or demanding that he or she prescribe something - the medical equivalent of the man who represents himself in court and has a fool for a client.
Many people subconsciously view a doctor visit as a transaction.
They paid a price and feel shortchanged if they leave without a prescription. It was the last two points that new Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson spoke to when he praised the guidelines last week. We are working toward a day when a patient or parent sees his or her health care provider and rather than requesting an antibiotic, asks for the best treatment available. Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on March 26, 2001. Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved.