An End to Modern Medicine As We Know It

Infections That Previously Have Taken Lives Now Could Kill Again Dr. Arjun Srinivasan, associate director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told PBS' Frontline that the age of antibiotics has co e to an end! the" are no longer effective. #$here are %atients for &ho &e have no thera%", and &e are literall" in a %osition of having a %atient in a bed &ho has an infection, so ething that five "ears ago even &e could have treated, but no& &e can't.( $reating infections &ithout antibiotics #could ean a return to a ti e &hen a si %le bacterial infection could cause "our child, "our %arents or "ou serious health %roble s or even death.( For )* "ears, &e have +no&n that bacteria ada%t to their environ ent. ,n -./0, scientist discovered that bacteria could utate and beco e antibiotic1resistant. ,n -./2, biologist Ale3ander Fle ing, &ho in -.45 discovered and isolated %enicillin, &arned that the isuse of %enicillin could a+e bacteria resistant to it. 6ver the sa e %eriod, the %ublic also has been ade a&are of the dangers of using antibiotics in ani al feed to %ro ote gro&th or to %revent diseases in livestoc+ and %oultr". (Sevent" %ercent of the antibiotic used is for %ro oting gro&th and not for the &ellbeing of ani als.) 7et, even though the edical %rofession, the %ublic, agribusinesses, and eat %roducing industries have been a&are of the conse8uences of overuse and isuse of antibiotics, all failed to heed the &arnings. Patients continue to de and antibiotics fro %h"sicians the" do not need! %h"sicians continue to over%rescribe. Patients continue ta+ing antibiotics not as %rescribed. $he" &ill self1treat a later ail ent and then use leftover antibiotics in their edicine cabinet that a" not be a%%licable to their current illness. So e ac8uire antibiotics &ithout a %rescri%tion. And, edical touris has contributed to the %roble of antibiotic resistance. $he cause also falls on insatiable drives for %rofit b" food industr" and %har aceutical co %anies &ho value one" over the &ellbeing of %eo%le.

$he food industr" %roduces nearl" -* billion food ani als a "ear. $he a ounts of antibiotics used to feed these ani als are huge. 9sti ated at 4... illion %ounds sold to eat and %oultr" %roducers in 4*--, antibiotics re%resent huge %rofits for the food industr" as &ell as the %roducers of antibiotics. ,t's a assive ar+et that the" &ill fight tooth and nail to %rotect. Antibiotics are not as %rofitable as bloc+buster drugs. $herefore, des%ite the CDC re%ort that #at least 4 illion %eo%le beco e infected &ith bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and at least 40,*** %eo%le (:2 billion &orld&ide) die each "ear as a direct result ;,( %har aceutical co %anies are not going to invest in a+ing ne& antibiotics or edications that a" solve the %roble . Dr. <argaret Chan, Director1=eneral of the >orld ?ealth 6rgani@ation, sa"s that &hat this eans #in effect AisB an end to odern edicine as &e +no& it.(