US insurers to target antibiotics overRxing

A group of 24 US health insurers is planning a campaign to combatexcessive and unnecessary prescribing of antibiotics. The firms, which include such majors as Aetna and Cigna, say they will use posters, pamphlets and possibly print media and television advertising to warn of the dangers of inappropriate use of the drugs, and will also use the data they hold on doctors' prescribing habits through their processing of pharmacy claims to effect change, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Over 40% of the 100 million courses of antibiotics prescribed in the USA each year are unnecessary, including an estimated 17 million prescribed to treat the common cold, notes the report.

Aetna, which spends about $500 million annually on antibiotics for its 20 million enrollees, says the campaign will include no disciplinary action against doctors who are revealed to be prescribing excessively or unnecessarily. Rather, it believes that comparisons with their peers will encourage them to change their habits.