Ignorance about antibiotics propelling global 'superbug' crisis | STAT
A new World Health Organization survey (PDF) has found that people around the world have a fundamental misunderstanding of how antibiotics work, including how they should be taken and what kinds of infections they treat. Misuse is contributing to the rise of antibiotic-resistant "superbugs" and threatening gains in life expectancy, researchers say.
U.S. drug benefit managers clamp down on specialty pharmacies | Reuters
Major pharmacy benefits managers, including Express Scripts, OptumRx, and CVS Health, are taking a closer look at relationships between drugmakers and specialty pharmacies and have cut ties with at least eight pharmacies in the wake of revelations that Valeant Pharmaceuticals received a significant portion of its revenue from a single specialty pharmacy suspected of being used to boost Valeant's sales.
Antibiotics in animal feed may endanger kids, doctors warn | Reuters
The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued a report warning that feeding livestock antibiotics to increase their size and prevent infections has led to a rise in antibiotic resistant bacteria in the food supply and the environment that is making it harder to treat U.S. children with life-threatening infections.
Rare TB case shows diagnosing, treating children is tough | Washington Post
Doctors at John's Hopkins report that they treated a toddler with a case of extensively drug-resistant TB. The child apparently contracted the infection on a family trip to India. It took the doctors months to confirm the child had the disease, and treatment with multiple drugs after initial signs of improvement reversed. The doctors say the difficulty they faced, even with all the tools at their disposal, highlights how challenging it is to treat and prevent spread of the disease in poor areas of the world where it is much more common.
