THE ONE CLASS OF DRUGS THAT SHOULD NEVER BE OTC

Drug Fears

We hear so much about opiate addiction and fentanyl problems.  With the former, it is critical to look at the different groups of people involved (just like the homeless problem.)  There are outright abusers, but there are also people with chronic pain who aren’t getting what they need.  In terms of fentanyl, it wasn’t that big a problem until our borders were opened wide.  Fed in from China through Mexico, this dangerous drug is widely available and, in many cases, deadly.  But this isn’t the drug problem we should fear.  It isn’t the deadliest.

Antibiotic Abuse

Feeling ill, people clamor for antibiotics from their doctors.  Most of the time, they have a virus which is unaffected by antibiotics. Sadly, rather than telling them this, many doctors find it expedient to sign a prescription for an antibiotic, even as they know this won’t help, except psychologically. 

What’s the problem?  We all know the placebo effect is powerful.  If so, they should be giving out sugar pills and telling patients they are antibiotics.  The reason is simple.  Giving people this class of drug when they don’t need it causes two effects.  1.  People simply stop taking them early as they feel better.  Most of these drugs have limits on drinking and eating, and the course is often long, so people give up.  2.  Taking it when you aren’t beating off a bacterial infection will kill weaker bacteria in your body first.  We need a healthy flora of bacteria to process food and yes, some of those, in larger amounts, can sicken you.  But when you kill weaker bacteria, only the stronger mutations survive and prosper.  These have developed antibiotic-resistance, meaning that over time, there may be no antibiotic to cure you when you really need it.

Antibiotics are also very strong drugs and can cause a lot of harmful effects.  In some ways, they’re like chemotherapy.  Great when you have a problem that demands them, but very hard on your system when you don’t. However, if you don’t need chemo, but get it anyway, you don’t hurt others. 
When you cause antibiotic-resistant bugs to get out there by your flagrant abuse of the drugs, you can kill others.  MRSA (methicillin-resistant staph aureus) is a very serious disease; the version of the bacteria—staph—that causes this causes death or serious disease and is almost impossible to cure.

Why Are We Talking About This Now?

There is a move among our leftie leaders to make antibiotics available over the counter (OTC).  Personally, I’d rather they legalize heroin rather than do this, as I’ve never been harmed by someone shooting up.  People simply don’t know enough to prescribe antibiotics for themselves.  I’m not even concerned about the harm they can do to themselves.  It’s the harm they do to everyone else that matters. In fact, the smart thing we can all do is a. not insist on an antibiotic when visiting a doctor and b. argue with the doctor if they want to prescribe it. 

There should be a way to track prescriptions to these drugs, just like there is for class 1 drugs (the most dangerous, addictive drugs.)  Doctors who give out too many should be challenged.  Perhaps part of their required continuing education should be on minimizing antibiotic prescriptions.

But we also have to look at farmers who routinely give animals antibiotics, which also leads to problems.  If we can start to see antibiotics as a drug you only use when you must, we might get this problem under control.

Another Wrinkle (or two)

I had the opportunity do career coaching for an outplacement firm.  Over the years there, I often had scientists who had lost their jobs in the bacteriological division of pharmaceutical companies.  Why?  Well, American companies are no longer innovating/producing antibiotics to treat bacterial infections.  Most drugs now come from other places, chiefly China.

Should we be very worried about this?  Chinese quality is not assured.  I’ve heard stories of tainted pet food, defective airbags, Covid treatments that don’t work and much more.  We need to push to get our companies to keep innovating on antibiotics because every year, there are more antibiotic-resistant strains.

Our open border doesn’t help.  While we have good health care here, there is no vetting of the millions streaming across.  They bring many diseases over which leads to more problems.  And they’ve probably had the chance to abuse antibiotics, just as we have.  Back when my father came to America, you had to pass medical tests. You couldn’t bring diseases here.  We need to bring that back.

What Can You Do?

The answer is simple:

1.    Don’t demand antibiotics from your doctor.  When you get sick (usually a virus), go to your local pharmacy and ask for a consult.  Describe your symptoms and the pharmacist will happily suggest things you can take.  He also will know when it sounds more serious, which would then lead to visiting your doctor.

2.   When a doctor is too quick to offer antibiotics, question him or her.  Can I wait a bit and see if I get better?  Is there another option?

We can all make this situation better by taking charge of our own health.