NAPLEX Practice Exam 2026 – All-in-One Guide to Mastering the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination!

Carbapenems are broad-spectrum antibiotics commonly used to treat serious bacterial infections. These drugs are effective against a wide range of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, making them particularly useful for empiric therapy when resistant organisms are suspected (option B). They are also commonly used to treat polymicrobial infections (option C) and resistant pseudomonas infections (option D), with the exception of ertapenem. However, they are not typically used for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) (option A), as other antibiotics such as macrolides and beta-lactams are more commonly used for this type of infection. Therefore, option A is the correct answer as it is not a common use for Carbapenems.