We have all seen commercials touting the convenience of having urgent care medical kits for your private use at home, in lieu of visiting your own doctor or a walk in clinic.
Are urgent care kits necessary? Do they temp users to self-medicate without proper medical diagnosis?
The answer depends on who you ask or what source of information you trust.
Generally, the medical community agrees that for certain situations – as long as there is physician supervision involved – emergency medical kits can be useful. However, situations, such as a weather emergency or becoming sick while traveling to a remote location are statistically rare.
Unlike home-made medical kits which typically contain first aid supplies and over the counter medications for minor ailments, urgent care medical kits (also called “emergency antibiotic kits”) contain antibiotics and other prescription strength medications.
Urgent care kits are legal in the states; however, they do need to be prescribed by a licensed physician. And proper use of medications in the kit should be supervised by either your own doctor, or one provided by the company it was purchased from via telehealth. The kits I researched do contain guidebooks, but proper consultation before beginning any medication is advised.
Dr. Vitaliy Krol, an osteopathic physician who specializes in infectious diseases in Long Island is skeptical. In fact, he wasn’t aware of the kits’ popularity. “Many infections don’t require antibiotics at all, and using a kit may encourage treatment without a physical exam or diagnosis,” he stated for an interview in The DO, a medical journal of osteopathic medicine.
Dr. Krol pointed out, however, that having doxycycline on hand is certainly an advantage if you are bitten by a tick (embedded in the skin) in a wilderness setting, injured or a bitten by an animal, hours from the nearest care center.
Other physicians and medical journals concur there are dangerous implications of mis-using antibiotics. As most of us are aware, overuse of antibiotics can also build up dangerous resistance of so-called “super bugs.” Antibiotics can interfere with proper diagnoses and culture results, and even mask other underlying health issues.
Additionally, any use of antibiotics can cause side effects such as vomiting, diarrhea, kidney or liver damage, medication interactions and allergic reactions. The shelf life of antibiotics is relatively short, as well, typically two years. Replacement of expired antibiotics is obviously recommended, adding to the initial price of any urgent care kit.
A typical home medical kit contains common, broad spectrum antibiotics such as Amoxicillin, Azithromycin (“Z Pack”), Ivermectin for parasitic infections, Fluconazole for UTIs or yeast infections and Ondansetron for nausea and vomiting.
Among the most popular kits are The Wellness Company Medical Emergency Kit (retailing for about $275) and The Jase Case ($290). Critics of this pricing estimate that most kits’ contents have a value of between $25 – $40 – quite different from the retail prices marketed. As Dr. Krol put it, “It’s a high price for a low value.”
An article in Johns Hopkins Hospital blog encourages people to build their own medical emergency kits as an affordable alternative to urgent care kits filled with medications you may never use. Its recommendations are in the article link.
Home medical kits without antibiotics usually cost between $40 – $60, depending on your family’s needs or condition. That’s quite a difference in cost compared to the kits with antibiotics.
The American Medical Association has weighed in on the medical and ethical considerations of using urgent care kits. It noted that the kits gained popularity during COVID and the burgeoning telehealth environment. They do not make a statement against the companies offering antibiotics; rather, they stress the importance of seeking in person medical care as soon as possible, particularly at “ready care” centers if your own physician is not available.
Ultimately, it is a personal and circumstantial choice, and there are plenty of endorsements and anecdotal reports of the convenience and “first defense” of urgent care kits. Busy travelers in particular praise the kits for emergencies while abroad or in a wilderness setting.
“Caveat emptor.” Buyer Beware.
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Bridget FitzPatrick
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