Invasion of the Supergerms
“There are strains out there, and they are becoming more and more common, that are resistant to virtually every antibiotic we have”… said Dr. Louis B. Rice, an infectious-disease specialist at the Louis Stokes Cleveland V.A. Medical Center and at Case Western Reserve University.
He’s talking about:
A germ [that] is one of a category of bacteria that by some estimates are already killing tens of thousands of hospital patients each year.
Full article on the rising threat of infections unfazed by antibiotics.
I’ve heard there isn’t much money in antibiotic research. The drugs are not used for chronic conditions. Moreover, the CDC and other health experts constantly warn doctors not to prescribe antibiotics unnecessarily. The fact FDA approvals of antibiotics has fallen over the past few years is not that surprising.
Could supergerms erase the life expectancy gains made by the human race over the last 75 years?
Could antibiotic resistance create the unintended consequence of solving the Social Security funding problem?
Sounds like this may be one area where a public subsidy is warranted. There may be social beneifts here that cannot be captured by a private drug company.
Perhaps we’re reaching the era when the only treatment is no treatment.
Public subsidies? How about just reforming the FDA to reduce the cost of drug development?