VAERS: how an essential safety program is being hijacked to falsely discredit vaccines
The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) has become a household name recently. Many misinformation campaigns have taken data from VAERS and have twisted it to discredit COVID-19 vaccines....
You’re probably not allergic to penicillin: Looking at the most commonly reported drug allergy
Penicillin allergy is reported by up to 10% of the general population, making it the most commonly reported drug allergy. However, as many as 95% of these people are not truly allergic to penicillin;...
Smelly pee? Let it be – Why smelly urine is not a reason to take antibiotics
It's a common misconception among patients and healthcare providers that smelly urine automatically means you have a urinary tract infection (UTI) and that you need antibiotics. While it's true that...
The reasons why antibiotics aren’t available over-the-counter
In some countries around the world, antibiotics are sold over-the-counter (without a prescription). So people have sometimes asked me: why aren't antibiotics available over-the-counter (OTC)? The...
Antibiotics are one of the main risk factors for the development of Clostridioides difficile infection (also known as Clostridium difficile, C. difficile, and C. diff). There are other potential risk...
Sore throat is one of the most common reasons for people to consult a walk-in/after-hours clinic. Many people are under the assumption that any bad sore throat is "strep throat" (officially known as...
