Industry Chief Says Drug Companies to Blame For Antibiotic Resistance

February 4, 2015- Doctors tend to get blamed the most for the growing number of cases of bacterial resistance because of over-prescribing, but Karl Rotthier, chief executive of the Dutch DSM Sinochem Pharmaceuticals, claims that lax procedures at drug companies are another cause. His concern is that the very industry that produced life-saving antibiotics may be adding to the crisis.

Rotthier raises concerns about “the end of modern medicine” and a "post-antibiotic era." He cites, for example, poor waste-water management in India for causing rivers in Patancheru to contain higher concentrations of antibiotics than the blood of patients undergoing treatment. He is calling on companies to implement higher environmental protection methods for producing antibiotics so that no waste water ends up in drinking water.
"Antimicrobial resistance has been rising, and if we don't do anything we risk deaths of up to 10 million a year by 2050," he said.

Rotthier added that most antibiotics are produced in China and India, and that poor environmental conditions have caused antibiotics to leak out and get into drinking water. They also are in the fish and cattle people eat. This causes more antibiotic resistance than overprescribing, he says.

The WHO echoes Rotthier's concerns and has classified antimicrobial resistance as a "serious threat" to the world.

Read the full TimesLive.co editorial post here.

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