Medical Warning On Antibiotics
The California Medical Association is warning people about the dangers of overusing antibiotics because of bioterrorism threats.
Association officials say antibiotics can cause harmful side effects and decrease the body´s ability to fight future disease. They fear patients will be tempted to take the drugs needlessly because of alarm over bioterrorism.
Patients throughout the state will be receiving one-page explanations on the dangers of taking antibiotics unnecessarily.
The notes, modeled after a doctor´s prescription pad form, were printed in Spanish and English and sent to 65-thousand physicians in the state.