Athens, Ga. – Perhaps best known in the media for his study on the average length of the common cough—it’s roughly 18 days—the University of Georgia’s Mark Ebell is available for comment on a JAMA study published May 3.

The study finds nearly a third of antibiotics prescribed in the U.S. aren’t appropriate for the conditions being treated.

“I’m surprised it is only a third,” said Ebell, a professor of epidemiology in the UGA College of Public Health and a family physician.

The over-prescription of antibiotics has important detrimental effects, he explained.

“By overusing antibiotics, we increase resistance of bacteria to antibiotics,” he said. “We waste money. We sometimes cause very serious adverse effects like allergic reactions or Clostridium difficile infection,” the latter being a bacterial overgrowth that causes severe diarrhea.

He also said, “We tend to focus a lot on diagnosis and treatment in medicine, but I think that the importance of making a good prognosis is underappreciated. Patients often ask, ‘When am I going to feel better, doc?’ and deserve an accurate answer.”

His recent study on mono, also published in JAMA, looks at these issues.

Ebell is available at 706-542-1585 or [email protected]. He specializes in clinical epidemiology, systematic reviews and meta-analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, evidence-based medicine, point of care decision support and diagnosis of common medical problems. He is a member of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, editor-in-chief of Essential Evidence, deputy editor of American Family Physician and co-editor of Essentials of Family Medicine, 3rd – 5th editions.