Penicillin allergy and the law

Approximately 10% of the population carries a label of penicillin allergy. However, on evaluation, only a small minority, approximately 5%, of these patients are found to be truly allergic.1 Subsequently, many patients with a history of penicillin allergy are unnecessarily denied treatment with first-line beta-lactam antibiotics, in favor of less desirable and problematic antibiotics such as fluoroquinolones, vancomycin, and clindamycin. As a result of this prescribing pattern, being labeled penicillin allergic is associated with various poor clinical outcomes such as vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE), Clostridium difficile colitis, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

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