Most office-based physicians who provide treatment for sexually transmitted diseases reported not having the recommended medications for gonorrhea and syphilis on site, according to a CDC report.
CDC researchers used the 2016 Physician Induction File of the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey to assess the number of physicians who treat patients with STDs. They examined which injectable drugs these physicians had on site for same-day management of gonorrhea and syphilis, including recommended drugs, such as intramuscular ceftriaxone and penicillin G benzathine.
The number of U.S. physicians treating patients for STDs was 149,483. Of these, 77.9 percent reported not having penicillin G benzathine available on site, and 56.1 percent reported not having ceftriaxone.
The researchers said that future studies should focus on the barriers physicians face in offering these drugs on site, such as the cost of obtaining and storing them.