# In a libertarian society... **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 12, 2011, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-libertarian-society/599458 "2011-10-12T20:27:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 874
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-libertarian-society/599458/874 "2011-10-29T16:49:36Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > But how are you going to force people to stick to the regimen and not just stop after the symptoms go away (they usually do in a couple of days)? I mean you’re SO worried about incorrect use of antibiotics. It is REALLY dangerous thing. Supposedly hundreds of thousands of people will be dying because of it. Why not suppress a little more freedom and save all those people? Because, short of hospitalization for every infection, there’s no way to do so, even if you were to assign an antibiotic police. So, the next best thing, after weighing the risks, is to try to shorten the regimen so it’s easy and convenient for the patient, and get a _proper_ prescription from the doctor (since there’s all sorts of antibiotics) as to greatly mitigate overuse and to educate the patient per infection about the consequences of stopping half way through: e.g. “You’ll be increasing the risk of developing a strain of bacteria that we won’t be able to fight with antibotics, from this very infection.” See that? I employed common sense. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-libertarian-society/599458)._