A local doctor says it’s time for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to get over their “addiction” to antibiotics.

This is World Antibiotics Week and Quality of Care NL is hosting a Future Forum on the topic this evening.

Newfoundland and Labrador leads the country in the overuse of antibiotics.

Dr. Peter Daley is an infectious disease physician, and says in many cases antibiotics are not needed, but some patients will go to two or more doctors just to get a prescription. He says it’s like an addiction, and some people are so dependent on antibiotic use they will seek them wherever they can, including ‘double-doctoring’.

The FutureForum is this evening, November 20 at 5:30 in room 1M101 at MUN’s Faculty of Medicine in St. John’s. More information can be found here.