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LETTERS: Andrew Sanderson Prescribing antibiotics for sore throats BMJ 1999; 318: 1013b [Full text]

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Prescribing antibiotics: Evidence required for medicalising effect of diagnostic testing

I T S Cunningham   (9 April 1999)

Prescribing antibiotics: Evidence required for medicalising effect of diagnostic testing 9 April 1999
I T S Cunningham, Lecturer / Practitioner in Clinical Pharmacy The Robert Gordon University Send response to journal: Re: Prescribing antibiotics: Evidence required for medicalising effect of diagnostic testing	Editor It is interesting to read that Dr Sanderson does not see many of his patients with sore throat again after carrying out a throat swab with the promise of an antibiotic when the result of the swab is known.(1) This issue relates directly to the arguments debated in the article by Kolmos and Little(2). In their article Little comments that diagnostic testing may have a medicalising effect that may ultimately result in an increase in consultations. Obviously this area needs clarification- a research project beckons! ITS Cunningham Lecturer / Practitioner in Clinical pharmacy School of Pharmacy, The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, AB10 1FR. 1. Sanderson A. Prescribing antibiotics for sore throat: doctor uses different method from authors. BMJ 1999; 318:1013. 2. Kolmos HJ, Little P. Should general practitioners perform diagnostic tests on patients before prescribing antibiotics? BMJ 1999;318:799-802. Competing interests: none