Nearly One-Quarter of Prescription Fills for Outpatient Antibiotics Are Inappropriate

​In a study of outpatient antibiotic prescribing, 23% of prescription fills for outpatient antibiotics were inappropriate, reports a January 16, 2019, study in BMJ. The researchers classified each diagnostic code in the ICD-10-CM as always, sometimes, or never justifying antibiotics. They then evaluated 15.5 million prescription fills for outpatient antibiotics in 2016 among 19.2 million privately insured children and adults younger than age 65. The appropriateness of each prescription fill was categorized based on diagnostic codes used within three days leading up to each fill.