TY - JOUR T1 - Prescribing safety: the case of inappropriate medicines JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 542 LP - 543 DO - 10.3399/bjgp11X593730 VL - 61 IS - 590 AU - Rupert A Payne Y1 - 2011/09/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/61/590/542.abstract N2 - Prescribing is a common outcome of many general practice consultations, and is the principle therapeutic intervention offered by the NHS. It is essential that this critical activity is clinically effective, cost-effective, and safe. Rates of prescribing are increasing year-on-year, with the average person in England receiving 17.8 prescription items in 2010 — an increase of 63% over the past decade.1 The potential for adverse drug reactions is therefore considerable and growing. It is also exacerbated by the inappropriate or unnecessary use of pharmaceutical agents. A number of articles in this month's issue of the BJGP examine commonly-used medicines, in particular, antibiotics, antidepressants, and benzodiazepines, which together account for over 10% of the 1 billion drugs issued last year.1 Although perhaps not immediately evident, all these papers have implications from a safety perspectiveEver since Fleming's discovery of penicillin in 1928, antibiotics have been credited as one of the most important developments in medicine. However, they are also associated with numerous adverse effects, some of which can be extremely serious.2 Furthermore, antimicrobial resistance is becoming increasingly prevalent and problematic,3 aggravated by a marked slowing in the development of new antibacterial agents by the pharmaceutical industry. Therefore, reducing inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions is important from both individual patient and public health perspectives.In this issue of the BJGP, Jefferis and colleagues present a meta-analysis which demonstrates that antibiotics result in … ER -