The Risks and Benefits of Prescribing Antibiotics

Lauri A. Hicks, DO, Director, Office of Antibiotic Stewardship, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, discusses the importance of preserving the effectiveness of antibiotics.

Interview Transcript (slightly modified for readability)

“One thing that I think is really important, no matter who the prescriber is, is that the prescriber think about the risks and benefits of prescribing that antibiotic. For many, many years, we’ve thought of antibiotics as the quick-fix to, pretty much, any infection. What we’ve learned, over the years, is that there are actual severe consequences associated with treating antibiotics without respect.

What I’m proposing is that we really need to be taking antibiotic treatment more seriously. When we talk to our patients about antibiotics we need to really be communicating about both the risks and benefits of antibiotics.

I like to think of antibiotics as a natural resource that is in limited supply. We really should be thinking about opportunities to preserve the effectiveness of these life-saving drugs, so that when our children need them, when our parents need them, for serious infections, that they will actually work.”