Got prescribed antibiotics?  CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) published new data in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that at least 30 percent of antibiotics prescribed in the US are unnecessary.  This can prove to be not just not beneficial, but harmful, such as getting  Clostridium difficile, commonly known as "C-difficile" or "C-diff":

The study analyzed antibiotic use in doctors’ offices and emergency departments throughout the United States. CDC researchers found that most of these unnecessary antibiotics are prescribed for respiratory conditions caused by viruses – including common colds, viral sore throats, bronchitis, and sinus and ear infections – which do not respond to antibiotics. These 47 million excess prescriptions each year put patients at needless risk for allergic reactions or the sometimes deadly diarrhea, Clostridium difficile.

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“Antibiotics are lifesaving drugs, and if we continue down the road of inappropriate use we’ll lose the most powerful tool we have to fight life-threatening infections,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “Losing these antibiotics would undermine our ability to treat patients with deadly infections,  cancer, provide organ transplants, and save victims of burns and trauma.”

(via "CDC: 1 in 3 antibiotic prescriptions unnecessary

New CDC data show large percentage of antibiotics misused in outpatient settings")

Make sure you actually need the antibiotics before you take the prescription - ask your doctor, "Do I really need it?".  This is part of CDC's continued advice on not taking anitobiotics that you don't actually need.  In 2015, the White House released The National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (CARB) with a goal of reducing inappropriate outpatient antibiotic use by at least half by 2020.