The public health implications created by the inappropriate use of antibiotics represents one of the largest global health problems today.  A 2013 retrospective study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control found that in the year 2010, U.S. physicians and associated health care providers prescribed 258 million courses of antibiotics for a population of approximately 309 million Americans. This translates on average to over 8 antibiotic prescriptions for every 10 people.

This study was followed by a 2014 WebMd/Medscape survey that found a staggering 95% of US prescribers write for antibiotics when they are unclear if they are necessary.  One third of this group admitted to writing antibiotics when unclear of their necessity at least 25% of the time.

Concurrently, the prevalence of drug-resistant bacteria as well as the incidence of complicated antibiotic-associated colitis has risen.

This table on reasons why patients request antibiotics is from the same survey:

Clearly, from this data, there is a patient educational gap component to this problem. Given their limited options, providers often feel pressured to prescribe antibiotics even in instances when they know they are not necessary.

 
A 2014 Brigham and Women’s study finding that providers write more antibiotic prescriptions in the afternoons than mornings suggested “decision fatigue” on the part of providers, many of whom state they are bombarded daily with patient requests for antibiotics. Some physician groups even recommend writing antibiotic prescriptions for viral URIs to satisfy the patient request and then discouraging them from filling their prescriptions. This is less than ideal.

According to the CDC, there are now 2 million drug resistant infections and 23,000 related deaths annually in the US.  The WHO released a statement calling worldwide drug resistance, “an increasingly serious threat to global public health that requires action across all government sectors and society.”This was the societal level call to action around the EZC Pak.  The EZC Pak is a physician-developed supplement for providers dealing with patient pressure for prescriptions they do not deem necessary.  By providing a health care provider-directed tangible solution, we aim to assist providers with reducing inappropriate prescribing patterns while also maintaining or improving patient satisfaction.  It is important to emphasize that the EZC Pak is not a substitute or replacement for any prescription drug or treatment, antibiotic or otherwise, when deemed appropriate by an individual’s treating physician or licensed medical provider.