Obama orders plan to reduce peril of antibiotic resistance

Sep 19 2014

The measures include incentives to develop new drugs, tighter control of existing ones and better tracking of resistant microbes. "Super bugs" are thought to cause 23,000 deaths and two million illnesses in the U.S. every year and $20 billion in spending.

The New York Times: U.S. Aims To Curb Peril Of Antibiotic Resistance
The Obama administration on Thursday announced measures to tackle the growing threat of antibiotic resistance, outlining a national strategy that includes incentives for the development of new drugs, tighter stewardship of existing ones, and improvements in tracking the use of antibiotics and the microbes that are resistant to them (Tavernise, 9/18).

The Washington Post: Obama Directs Federal Agencies To Ramp Up Efforts To Deal With Antibiotic Resistance
After years of warnings from the science and medical communities about the depletion of the world's arsenal of effective antibiotics, President Obama directed federal agencies Thursday to significantly ramp up their efforts to deal with the threat (Ellis Nutt, 9/18).

The Wall Street Journal: Obama Orders Plan Against Antibiotic Resistance
The White House unveiled new measures on Thursday to try to preserve the effectiveness of infection-fighting drugs as strains of bacteria become increasingly resistant to the existing arsenal of antibiotics. The moves signal a growing concern over drug-resistant infections, which are linked to two million illnesses and 23,000 deaths in the U.S. each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some infections are almost entirely untreatable because the appropriate antibiotics have been rendered powerless (Tracy and Burton, 9/18). 

Reuters: White House Calls For Task Force To Tackle Antibiotic-Resistant Bugs
The U.S. government will set up a task force and presidential advisory council to tackle the growing threat of antibiotic resistance, setting a Feb. 15 deadline for it to outline specific steps, White House advisers said on Thursday. The secretaries of Defense, Agriculture and Health and Human Services will set up the task force to advise on steps to ensure the remaining medically important antibiotics available to treat humans stay effective and look at their use in animal feed. Antibiotic resistance in bacteria has led to "super bugs" linked to 23,000 deaths and 2 million illnesses every year in the United States, and up to $20 billion in direct health care costs (9/18).