Zeke Emanuel May Not Be Right This Time: Increasing Costs Will Probably Not Slow Antibiotic Resistance

Ezekiel J. (Zeke) Emanuel, MD, PhD, is chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. On May 30, 2016, the Washington Post published an opinion piece by Dr. Emanuel titled “Want to Win $2 Billion? Create the Next Antibiotic.” In the article, Dr. Emanuel makes two key points: (1) the low cost of antibiotics may be one of the principal factors that have led to doctors over-prescribing these drugs; (2) the low cost of antibiotics with the resulting low rate of return on investment for pharmaceutical companies dis-incentivizes drug manufacturers from allocating more resources for the research and development of new antibiotics to combat evolving “superbugs” (bacteria resistant to current antibiotics). He offers ideas to help solve the problem including: (1) mandating that all hospitals create antibiotic stewardship programs to monitor antibiotic use within institutions; (2) require that all antibiotic prescriptions written be reviewed to assure that the prescribing is warranted according to national guidelines; (3) increasing the charges for antibiotics; and (4) creating a $2 billion prize with additional taxes or surcharges to be awarded to individuals or entities that develop new antibiotics to counter identified microbial threats. One should be very careful in challenging any suggestions Dr. Emanuel might make – after all he is an internationally recognized health policy and medical ethics expert...
Source: blog.bioethics.net - Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Tags: Health Care antibiotic cost drug safety evidence based medicine prescribing resistance syndicated Source Type: blogs