--- title: Why You Might Not Need Your Antibiotics Prescription description: About 30% of antibiotics that are prescribed in doctor's offices, clinics and emergency rooms are unnecessary, according to a new report canonical: https://time.com/4316102/antibiotics-prescription/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-03T15:00:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T17:13:45.870Z article:section: Health og:title: Why You Might Not Need Your Antibiotics og:description: About 30% of antibiotics that are prescribed in doctor's offices, clinics and emergency rooms are unnecessary, according to a new report og:url: https://time.com/4316102/antibiotics-prescription/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd8ec5e1b7b3a2ec1/6988604d428a9ee183ccebe6/rx-prescription-bottle-health-illo.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME.com stock health rx prescription bottle drugs og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why You Might Not Need Your Antibiotics twitter:description: About 30% of antibiotics that are prescribed in doctor's offices, clinics and emergency rooms are unnecessary, according to a new report twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd8ec5e1b7b3a2ec1/6988604d428a9ee183ccebe6/rx-prescription-bottle-health-illo.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why You Might Not Need Your Antibiotics ## Video: Some Cold Medicines Linked To Cognitive Damage [Watch (HLS stream): Some Cold Medicines Linked To Cognitive Damage](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/0vSU0oO5.m3u8) (1:00)  _Published 2016-04-18. A common kind of prescription and over-the-counter medication, including some cold medicines, has been linked to cognitive impairment in older adults, finds a new study published in JAMA Neurology._ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin May 3, 2016 3:00 PM UTC  Illustration by Sydney Rae Hass for TIME by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin May 3, 2016 3:00 PM UTC About 30% of [antibiotics](http://time.com/4114345/antibiotic-resistance-common-myths/) that are prescribed in doctor’s offices, clinics and emergency rooms are unnecessary, according to a [new report](http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?doi=10.1001/jama.2016.4151) published in the _Journal of the American Medical Association_. The researchers looked at medical care survey data from 2010-2011 to analyze rates of prescriptions for oral antibiotics. The study authors looked for cases where the medication prescribed was “inappropriate”, meaning it wasn’t necessary, or when the wrong antibiotic was chosen, the dosage wasn’t right or the drug was used for too long or too short a time. More than 12% of the 180,000-plus visits in the study ended with an antibiotic prescription, often for cases that didn’t meet clinical standards for the condition. Sinus infections were the most common conditions to get antibiotics; ear infections and sore throat were also common. During the study period, the estimated yearly antibiotic prescription rate was 506 per 1,000 people, but only 353 of the prescriptions were deemed appropriate for the condition. “For most common conditions, clinicians generally know if antibiotics are needed or not,” says study author Dr. Katherine Fleming-Dutra, a medical officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Often, clinicians are worried about patient satisfaction. They think that a patient wants antibiotics, and they want the patient to be satisfied with their care, sometimes leading them to prescribe when they shouldn’t.” Two million Americans get infections that are [resistant to antibiotics](http://time.com/3967873/antibiotic-resistant-bugs/) each year, which lead to about 23,000 deaths. Antibiotic resistance is a national priority, and the goal of the White House [National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria](https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/03/27/fact-sheet-obama-administration-releases-national-action-plan-combat-ant) is to reduce outpatient antibiotic use by 50% and inpatient use by 20% by the year 2020. “The good news is that the majority of patients trust clinicians to recommend the right treatment,” says Fleming-Dutra. “Clinicians can address patient satisfaction by communicating effectively when antibiotics are needed, and when they aren’t.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4316102/antibiotics-prescription/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4316102/antibiotics-prescription/"},"headline":"Why You Might Not Need Your Antibiotics","datePublished":"2016-05-03T15:00:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:13:45.870Z","description":"Many Americans are prescribed unnecessary antibiotics","url":"https://time.com/4316102/antibiotics-prescription/","keywords":["medicine","Drugs","Prescription","antibiotic resistance","antibiotics","prescriptions","antibiotic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd8ec5e1b7b3a2ec1/6988604d428a9ee183ccebe6/rx-prescription-bottle-health-illo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd8ec5e1b7b3a2ec1/6988604d428a9ee183ccebe6/rx-prescription-bottle-health-illo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TIME.com stock health rx prescription bottle drugs","caption":"TIME.com stock health rx prescription bottle drugs","creditText":"Illustration by Sydney Rae Hass for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/medicine/","name":"medicine"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4316102/antibiotics-prescription/","name":"Why You Might Not Need Your Antibiotics"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Some Cold Medicines Linked To Cognitive Damage","description":"A common kind of prescription and over-the-counter medication, including some cold medicines, has been linked to cognitive impairment in older adults, finds a new study published in JAMA Neurology.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/0vSU0oO5/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-04-18T21:22:26.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/0vSU0oO5.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4316102/antibiotics-prescription/","duration":"PT1M","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4316102/antibiotics-prescription/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```