Over 25% of people lie to get antibiotics—and their lies aren't even good
Faked symptoms still point to infections that antibiotics don't treat.
Two new studies published in JAMA Network Open reveal that a significant portion of patients in the US lie to their doctors to obtain unnecessary antibiotics. Led by Alistair Thorpe at the University of Utah, a team of researchers analyzed survey data from over 1,000 adults and discovered that more than a quarter of respondents had lied to a clinician at least once to secure an antibiotic prescription for themselves or a child under their care.
These patients employed various tactics, including exaggerating symptoms, inventing symptoms, or a combination of both.
Interestingly, the lies patients told centered around making up or exaggerating symptoms of conditions that would not be treated with antibiotics. For instance, the most frequently reported falsehoods involved symptoms associated with common colds, such as fever, cough, and sore throat. Despite the fact that colds are caused by viruses and not bacteria, which antibiotics target, these individuals lied about their symptoms to secure a prescription for antibiotics.
This practice is particularly concerning given the overuse of antibiotics and its potential consequences.
Written by urgent.news from Ars Technica Health's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
