UK Health Chief Slammed for 'Monumental Stupidity'

Rule No. 1 of taking antibiotics: Finish the entire bottle you're prescribed, even after you start to feel better. Rule No. 2: Don't share those antibiotics with friends. Rule No. 3: Be especially careful not to break the first and second rules if you're the UK's health secretary. Therese Coffey is now taking flak after breaching all three guidelines, and the British Medical Association is coming out hard against the practice. The Guardian reports that Coffey made the remarks about her antibiotics-sharing in September during a meeting with civil servants, amid plans in Britain to permit pharmacies to fill prescriptions for antibiotics without patients being examined first by doctors. The idea has been broached in part to ease demand for appointments for already hectic doctors.

The nation's Department of Health and Social Care cites data out of Scotland that notes implementing such a plan could leave hundreds of thousands of appointments open and save nearly $10 million annually. But it's a concept receiving backlash from medical professionals, who fear more drug-resistant bacteria could emerge as a result of any related uptick in antibiotics prescriptions. Experts on antimicrobial resistance, or AMR, tell the Times of London that such a plan should go through a trial period first, and some have come right out to say it's a "moronic" idea. Which is why when Coffey revealed in the meeting that she'd handed over some leftover antibiotics to a sick friend, her comments were met with "despair and disbelief," per the Guardian.

"Monumental stupidity," a National Health Service palliative care doctor tells the paper. The British Medical Association put out a release over weekend, noting that "sharing prescribed medications, particularly antibiotics, is not only potentially dangerous, but also against the law." It added: "We would ask our health secretary to instead support us in encouraging good and safe prescribing practices." A source said to be close to Coffey insists her private anecdote shouldn't be taken as an OK for everyone to share their antibiotics with loved ones, noting Coffey "understands the importance of antimicrobial resistance, would encourage people not to share medicines, and won't do so again in the future," per the Guardian. (More antibiotics stories.)