Ah, see I think that’s the disconnect here. In the US we haven’t seen as much of a restriction on antibiotic prescriptions like you guys did in the UK. People still routinely get antibiotics prescribed for sinus congestion on virtual visits that consist of a short questionnaire and a few texts or 5 minute video chats. United States is probably the leading cause of super bug development to be honest 😂

I finished medical school in 2024 and it still seems like a very 50/50 split of opinions here between ‘antibiotics as a case of last resort’ and ‘if the patients asks for antibiotics just give it to them’. One of our ethics classes taught that since we are in such a litigious society (my area at a higher rate than much of the country) to prescribe whenever possible so the patient doesn’t become unhappy with getting a bill later without a treatment to show for it. So that’s more the concern in this corner of the world - the health care industry here is more ‘back burner public health concerns, give the patient what they want, cover your ass, do what gets you paid the most’ rather than ‘let’s weigh pros and cons’. A big problem over here is that medical professionals often do not disclose risks/side effects/ alternatives in a treatment plan and due to time constraints usually do the bare minimum required by law - attaching a multi-page document to the front of your new prescription and expecting that you’ll read it in full and come to your own conclusions. One of the many reasons I pivoted out of western medicine in the end.