I see this all the time. (I'm an ER nurse by night, computer nerd by day).<p>The problem is that patients frequently demand antibiotics for infections that don't require them and patients demand XRays for injuries that are obviously not fractures.<p>If someone is going to take little Jonny to the ER at 3 in the morning because the child has a fever and a cough, the last thing that the parents want to hear is "give him Tylenol, push fluids, plenty of rest..." Plain and simple, if they're going through the trouble to see the doctor, they want a prescription. So, instead of spending 20 minutes explaining to the parents why little Jonny doesn't need a prescription, they spend 5 minutes with them, prescribe an antibiotic that they _might_ but probably don't need, and run off to see the next patient.
when I had bronchitis, my doctor told me "I can give you antibiotics and it will go away in three weeks. You can go without antibiotics and it will still go away in three weeks. What do you want to do?"<p>I declined.
Whenever I get a new prescription from a doctor, I jump online and do my research about it.<p>I know there are several brand names for placebo drugs, but would it be obvious if a doctor prescribed one to me or my family?