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Greetings!

Dr. John SantaGreetings,

I am excited to share the news with you that - just today - Consumer Reports launched an in-depth hub on our Consumer Health Choices website about a health product that almost all of us have         used - antibiotics. On this new, publicly and freely available portal, we do just as our readers have come to expect of us over the past 75
years: Provide honest facts about what works and what
does not work.

All of us - patients and doctors - are using too many antibiotics. There is a lot of pressure to use them, from friends, family, and advertising. In my own practice, I am sad to say, I gave antibiotics to some patients even though I knew that they probably would not work. They wanted antibiotics, and I did not want to disappoint them.

Antibiotics have saved millions of lives. But in the future, they might not work, because we are using them far too much. When we use an antibiotic, it kills most bacteria. However, a few bacteria survive - they "resist" the antibiotic and take over and multiply. When this happens, antibiotics don't work. The information on our new hub explains when you should use antibiotics - and when you should not.

It is especially important for hospitals to use antibiotics carefully. When hospitals overuse them, it can quickly lead to life-threatening antibiotic resistant infections.

Farms, restaurants, and grocery stores play an important role too. Most of the antibiotics sold in the U.S. are used by the meat industry on animals that aren't even sick. Consumers Union is working to stop the routine use of antibiotics on healthy livestock.

We invite you to use and share all of the antibiotic-related information on the hub, whether it's articles from Consumer Reports website and Wikipedia, from the Choosing Wisely and Best Buy Drugs campaigns, or in the form of videos, animation or posters, to learn more and share more about when to use antibiotics - and when not to.

John Santa, MD MPH
Director, Consumer Reports Health
www.consumerhealthchoices.org/antibiotics

 
                
March 2014 Newsletter 
In this issue:
Antibiotics Round Up
Antibiotics Video Spotlight
Antibiotics Posters
Support Our Work
Quick Links
Antibiotics Round Up

 

Antibiotics are strong medicines that can kill bacteria. But we have overused antibiotics 

for many years. As a result, we now have bacteria that resist antibiotics. Resistant 

bacteria cause infections that are harder to cure and more costly to treat.  

 

We've created this guide on when and how to use antibiotics to help you and your 

loved ones avoid drug resistance.  

 

 

 View the Round Up here 

   

Antibiotics Video Spotlight 

 

Choosing Wisely: Antibiotics
Choosing Wisely: Antibiotics

 

 

Antibiotics Posters  

Another educational resource we created to help patients and doctors discuss 

appropriate antibiotic use.

  

  Download the poster here 


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