Sir.—I would like to report my experience with Augmentin, released by Beecham Laboratories, Bristol, Tenn, in 1984. Augmentin is an oral antibacterial consisting of amoxicillin trihydrate and clavulanic acid, a β-lactamase inhibitor. This antibiotic has broad-spectrum activity effective for many gram-positive, gram-negative, and β-lactamase–producing organisms.1 It has been efficacious in treating lower respiratory tract infections, otitis media, sinusitis, urinary tract infections, and skin and skin structure infections, with success reported in 90% of more than 1,500 patients (data on file, Medical Department, Beecham Laboratories).
Results for 1,529 treated patients (499 children and 1,030 adults) indicate few side effects such as diarrhea/loose stools (9%), nausea (3%), rashes and urticaria (3%), vomiting (1%), and vaginitis (1%) (data on file, Medical Department, Beecham Laboratories). Less than 3% of individuals receiving Augmentin had therapy terminated for drug-related side effects. However, 70% of all patients I have treated with Augmentin for otitis