The dangerous side effects caused by the antibiotic fluoroquinolone have been known for years. Yet despite this, last year, doctors in Germany prescribed it to millions of their patients.

Fluoroquinolones commonly prescribed in Germany

In 2018, more than three million patients in the federal republic received prescriptions for a type of antibiotic known as fluoroquinolone, despite medical professionals knowing full-well that it can cause dangerous side effects. The figure, which includes only patients covered by statutory health insurance, was calculated by the scientific institute (WIdO) at AOK, a German health insurance fund.

The figures show that fluoroquinolones are still frequently prescribed in Germany, despite overwhelming evidence that they can cause dangerous side effects, including tendon inflammation and tearing, as well as damage to the central nervous system and arteries. Some types of fluoroquinolones have even been withdrawn from use in the USA following concerns about their toxicity.

Antibiotic use in Germany

Antibiotic use is widespread across the world, but there is some evidence that they are prescribed more frequently in the German healthcare system than in the rest of Europe. Their use has risen significantly in the federal republic between 1994 and 2014, according to data from the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. According to WIdO, in 2018, around 310 million daily doses of antibiotics were prescribed in Germany.

Of these 310 million prescriptions, 8,2 percent or 25,6 million daily doses were for fluoroquinolone antibiotics known to cause severe side effects. WIdO claims that 3,8 million people in 2017 and 3,2 million in 2018 were treated with these kinds of antibiotics, amounting to around 5 percent of the 72 million people in Germany covered by statutory health insurance. Extrapolating, WIdO suggested that up to 40.000 patients in Germany could be affected by adverse side effects.