“There’s no question that poor hospital hygiene, overuse — and sometimes misuse — of antibiotics contribute to outbreaks of infectious bacteria. But preventative efforts alone won’t solve our bacterial challenges. What we need most are better diagnostic tests and new medicines, says Scott Gottlieb, a practicing physician and resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. There are a number of steps that could help achieve this, says Gottlieb: * We need to recognize that developing drugs aimed at super bugs is not an ordinary pharmaceutical business, and requires unique incentives; * If public-health policies compel doctors to hold the best new antibiotics in reserve, we need to compensate with incentives for developing those niche drugs; * The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also needs to create better opportunities for companies to target not only conditions — such as pneumonia or skin infection — but also specific bacteria, like multi-drug resistant staph.” (10/31/07)