The antibiotic challenge: Justifications for antibiotic usage in the world of medicine

Abstract

This chapter is a micro-sociological exploration of the justifications that Danish general practitioners adopt to support antibiotic usage in their clinical practices. Based on qualitative in-depth interviews with 21 general practitioners in Denmark, the chapter looks upon the clinic as a particular social world (a justificatory regime) in which different antibiotic treatment strategies are qualified and justified in regard to moral and societal concerns. The chapter demonstrates how the medical application of antibiotics is accompanied by different justifications concerned with efficiencies, general civic interests, localized knowledge and more pervasive ‘green issues’ linked to how to secure sustainable societal usage through political intervention.