Nearly 30% of U.S. Adults Lie to Doctors to Get Antibiotics
A new national survey found that nearly 30% of U.S. adults have lied or exaggerated symptoms to obtain antibiotics from their doctors.
New surveys suggest that, when speaking with doctors, some patients will misrepresent the symptoms they’re experiencing in an attempt to get antibiotics. (Image credit: PhotoAlto/Milena Boniek via Getty Images)
Nearly 30% of U.S. adults have lied to doctors in an effort to obtain antibiotics, either by exaggerating their actual symptoms or by fabricating symptoms, the results of a new national survey suggest. Additionally, in a second survey, about one-quarter of children’s caregivers reported lying about their kids’ symptoms to get antibiotics on their behalf.
“As clinicians, we know that patients lie to us sometimes,” Dr. Jeffrey Linder, a general internist and primary care clinician-investigator at Northwestern Medicine, wrote in a commentary about the survey findings.