Why can you buy ampicillin without a perscription for fish but not for human use?

Question

The bottle pretty much says it's the same thing. This probably sounds stupid but couldn't you just go buy the bottle for fishes and take it yourself? I mean if you know that's what you have to take. And yes I do know I should go ask my dr before I take anything, I'm just curious.

Answer 1

You can use the fish one if you want to it is just not as well monitored during its manufacture as the human kind is. So who are you going to sue if your fish dies? However, even the human kind is so cheap now that it would not be a real savings. Also I am not sure what the strength of the fish dose is. It is not good to just use an antibiotic indiscriminately. some antibiotics work for some types of infections and not for other types. To use the wrong type of antibiotic could actually make things worse. The environment for bacteria in your body is usually a fight for resources between bad bacteria that infect and what might be called "normal flora" (bacteria) in your body. If you take the wrong antibiotic it might kill this "normal flora" off and actually make the bad bacteria thrive. This is called a super infection and can become a life threatening situation in some cases. One example of this is to take something like Cipro or Clindamycin. It kills almost all the bacteria in your gut and you get diarrhea because the normal flora in your gut helps with the digestion process. So you complain to your doctor and he tells you to go to the Pharmacy and get Lactobacillus which is the acidophiles bacteria that makes yogurt. The diarrhea stops. Just one example of good bacteria vs bad bacteria. I hope this helps.

Answer 2

Interesting question. I am guessing the standards and approval tracks for drugs used for goldfish and humans is quite different. The standards for humans being (hopefully) more stringent. Ampicillin is most commonly used in hospitals. The patients are carefully protected and cherished. Few will care if your goldfish dies. Using fish ampicillin to treat yourself would be somewhat inconvenient. A normal human dose is probably 5000 to 10000 times great than a normal fish dose. You'd have to buy a lot of fish ampicillin. Is there an oral ampicillin? It's always given IV. Finally, self-treatment with antibiotics from any source or any kind is, at best, ineffective, and at worse, very hazardous. When deciding of an antibiotic your doctor must look at where the infection occurs, likely organism, efficacy vs. toxicity, dosing schedules, ease of administration, and allergies. A person who treats themselves with fish ampicillin has a fool for a patient. Take care.

Answer 3

Ampicillin For Fish

Answer 4

Well, you could take it yourself, but that would not be smart because you would just be guessing what you have by way of an infection. People who take too many antibiotics can get resistant germs and then the antibiotics won't work when you really need them.

You can buy it without a prescription for fish because most vets don't treat fish and anyhow the cost of the vet visit would exceed the cost of the fish. If the fish dies, well, at least you tried. But if you put yourself at risk of dying, that's totally different, no?

Answer 5

Lets say something is seriously wrong with your car. Would you risk fixing it yourself and potentially making things worse and causing an accident and hurting someone? Unless you are a doctor or a nurse practitioner you should not be prescribing medication for yourself or anyone else. In case of your fishes, you should ask your veterinarian for a prescription.

Answer 6

try your local feed store..

Answer 7

HUMANS R MORE VALUABLE !!!