PATHWAYS FOR INAPPROPRIATE DISPENSING OF ANTIBIOTICS FOR RHINOSINUSITIS: A RANDOMIZED TRIAL [Contopoulos-Ioannidis DG, et al. Clin Infect Dis 2001;33:76]: State regulations in Greece dictate that antibiotics should be dispensed only by physician prescription, but the authors of this article were aware of anecdotal cases in which pharmacists provided patients antibiotics without the prescription. This presumably contributes to the high rates of bacterial resistance in Greece. To examine the issue, the authors used “actress-researchers” who pretended to be customers in pharmacies requesting antibiotics on behalf of a sick sister with a febrile illness characterized by sinus pain of 2 days’ duration. The specific request was for antibiotics, and if one was offered, the subsequent request was for one that was even stronger. Antibiotics were offered by 76 of 98 pharmacists (74%). Only 45 (44%) of the pharmacists recommended physician consultation. The authors concluded that inappropriate recommendations for antibiotic use were very common in the study setting.
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A 2001 study studied this question.