Doubtful. Doctors are not pressured by average people for drugs, when they very well know the drugs won’t do anything.
Sometimes doctors are worried secondary infections (by bacteria) will set in due to the primary viral infection.
Sometimes it is because all doctors today are only trained to treat illnesses with prescription drugs. Person has x, exhibiting symptoms a,b,c, treat with drug y. Hardly have any naturopathic doctors out there.
Sometimes because it’s the quickest way to get a person in and out the door because the doctor is overworked and has a large case load of patients to deal with, and its SOP to throw antibiotics at certain illnesses.
I recall from prior threads some M.D. FReepers saying otherwise.
“Doctors are not pressured by average people for drugs, when they very well know the drugs won’t do anything.”
Untrue. I say this from experience. Most people don’t actually understand the difference between a viral and a bacterial infection. I have to explain the distinction to my patients constantly. Also, many doctors (bad ones) hand out Zithromax like it’s candy just to get people asking for an antibiotic out the door, which only reinforces the idea to those patients that they need an antibiotic for everything.
Know the subject about which you are speaking before you open your mouth.