Well, superbugs are super enough right now — I’ve seen people lose limbs and their lives to MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) after routine (he said, as if putting people in a coma, cutting them open, chopping out worn parts, replacing them with metal and plastic, sewing the layers back together, and waking them up again is “routine”) surgeries. Even with IV antibiotic infusion and direct application into wounds.
I’ve said for decades we control the wrong drugs. If you abuse heroin you only kill yourself. If you abuse antibiotics, you maim and kill thousands of other people every year.
On the subject of justice, this is what you owe — if your doc says “go home, you’re going to be sick for two weeks” don’t pester him about “give me something” — too many of them will. That’s part of how we got here. Just go home and eat chicken soup. If you are advised to take a course of antibiotics, 1) take it all, every dose on schedule, even if you feel well before it’s gone, and 2) watch for signs it isn’t working. Ask your doc what to expect and what to do if it’s not happening in what timeframe. If something seems off, call your doc as soon as you think so.
If you’re in meat production or you’re a big processor, it is an act of Social Justice to work against regulatory capture of the FDA and to adopt antibiotic usage regulations that minimize the risk to medically important antibiotics.
Now that I think of it, it is an act of Social Justice for everyone to work against regulatory capture. The means most of us have is the ballot.
One Response
Well, superbugs are super enough right now — I’ve seen people lose limbs and their lives to MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) after routine (he said, as if putting people in a coma, cutting them open, chopping out worn parts, replacing them with metal and plastic, sewing the layers back together, and waking them up again is “routine”) surgeries. Even with IV antibiotic infusion and direct application into wounds.
I’ve said for decades we control the wrong drugs. If you abuse heroin you only kill yourself. If you abuse antibiotics, you maim and kill thousands of other people every year.
On the subject of justice, this is what you owe — if your doc says “go home, you’re going to be sick for two weeks” don’t pester him about “give me something” — too many of them will. That’s part of how we got here. Just go home and eat chicken soup. If you are advised to take a course of antibiotics, 1) take it all, every dose on schedule, even if you feel well before it’s gone, and 2) watch for signs it isn’t working. Ask your doc what to expect and what to do if it’s not happening in what timeframe. If something seems off, call your doc as soon as you think so.
If you’re in meat production or you’re a big processor, it is an act of Social Justice to work against regulatory capture of the FDA and to adopt antibiotic usage regulations that minimize the risk to medically important antibiotics.
Now that I think of it, it is an act of Social Justice for everyone to work against regulatory capture. The means most of us have is the ballot.