Felicia Lamb's reading response to "the antibiotic myth" in The Antibiotic Paradox

The discussion about people demanding antibiotics for the common cold or flu is so rediculous and so true. Most people who don't have a science background truly believe that antibiotics will solve every ailment, and they tend to get mad when their doctor says no. But on that note, it also amazes me how many of our modern day doctors keep prescribing them. In the book it talked about that the doctors are prescribing the antibiotics to keep patients, but from what I understand is that there has been more patients than doctors for them for several years, which is why the demand for more doctors remains high. I love the words at the end of this section "of course, there may be a tiny minority of physicians who still believe in the powers of antibiotics in all instances"...WHAT? Better not be my doctor when I need an antiviral for west nile virus.

Later in the chapter talk of some clinics and hospital giving only the first day of antibiotics to their patients, with the understanding that they will fill their prescription and continue taking them. But that the cost of the antibiotics is sometimes a days worth of work, so they don't fill the scrip and the whole antibiotic resistance explodes in an already vulnerable population.

The countries that don't have restrictions of antibiotics are usually the less developed countries such as Mexico and Argentina, but I guess I am guilty of taking advantage of this as all of the mexicans themselves. I have family in Texas and almost every summer we go down to Mexico to go shopping, while I am down in the little touristy boarder towns I pick up my oral and topical antibiotics from the pharmacies. I have all the details like dosage and concentration necessary, but it cheap and easily accessible. I understand how it causes many problems for the locals and their own health care because of little knowledge and much availability, but I also have used their lack of regulations to my advantage for years.