CDC: Half Of US Prescriptions For Antibiotics Unnecessary.

reports that according to the CDC, 80% of American are issued prescription antibiotics every year, and “up to half of the estimated 258 million prescriptions are unnecessary.” Jesse Goodman, director of Georgetown University’s Center on Medical Product Access, Safety and Stewardship and a former FDA chief scientist, says this is a “culture” problem and advises that “patient and doctor must understand these drugs are precious resources. The more we use them, and the more unwisely, the more resistance” will be built up against them. President Obama announced a plan this week “to nearly double the amount of federal funding dedicated to fighting antibiotic-resistant bacteria,” which the CDC says is responsible for an estimated two million illnesses and 23,000 deaths each year. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/01/28/our-love-of-antibiotics-is-destroying-their-power-that-might-be-a-branding-problem/