Cephalosporins can be safely administered to patients with verified penicillin allergy.

Whereas reported penicillin allergy is highly prevalent, true allergy is rare. Nonetheless, a reported penicillin allergy is associated with higher rates of alternative broad-spectrum antibiotic use, multidrug-resistant infections, surgical site infections, and higher health care costs and mortality.1,2 Although historically cephalosporins have been avoided in reported penicillin allergy, recent literature supports the safety of its administration in this patient population. In alignment with this understanding, Khan et al1 suggested that patients with nonanaphylactic unverified penicillin allergies can receive cephalosporins without testing, and patients with a history of anaphylaxis to penicillin can be given cephalosporins with structurally dissimilar R1 side chains without testing.