overprescription

noun

over·​pre·​scrip·​tion ˌō-vər-pri-ˈskrip-shən How to pronounce overprescription (audio)
: the practice of overprescribing something (such as a medication)
the overprescription of opiate painkillers

Examples of overprescription in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Adderall became a go-to drug for ADHD over the past two decades but quickly came under fire because of overprescription and misuse. Habibeh Khoshbouei, Fortune Well, 7 Apr. 2023 Goldin founded the organization Prescription Addiction Intervention Now (PAIN) in 2017 to hold the Sackler family — founders and owners of Purdue Pharma and Mundipharma — accountable for their role in the overprescription of OxyContin and other addictive opioids. K. Austin Collins, Rolling Stone, 28 Nov. 2022 In recent decades our personal microbiomes have been altered by factors such as poor dietary habits, a rise in cesarean-section births, overprescription of antibiotics, overuse of disinfectants and other germ fighters, and dwindling contact with beneficial microbes on animals and in nature. Carolyn Wells, Longreads, 25 Dec. 2020 Every year, some 700,000 deaths are attributed to pathogens that are resistant to penicillin and other drugs designed to kill them — largely in response to overprescription and careless disposal. Jonathon Keats, Discover Magazine, 20 Aug. 2018 Around the same time, the US began putting into focus the issue of opioid overprescription, and pushing for a reduction in the use of opioid pain medications. Annalisa Merelli, Quartz, 8 Nov. 2022 The rapid rise of these companies raised major concerns about overprescription. WIRED, 26 Oct. 2022 In the case of antibiotics, overprescription, improper use, and poor adherence contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance. Muhammad H. Zaman, STAT, 26 Oct. 2021 Today, it has been incorporated into multiple electronic health record systems, and it is often relied on by physicians anxious about overprescription. Maia Szalavitz, Wired, 11 Aug. 2021

Word History

First Known Use

1947, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of overprescription was in 1947

Dictionary Entries Near overprescription

Cite this Entry

“Overprescription.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/overprescription. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.

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