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Joseph T. Curti, MD

JAMA. 1975;231(13):1361-1363.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

AN ARTICLE appeared in the March 4 issue of THE JOURNAL purporting to link the alleged overprescribing of antibiotics with "new and major hazards" to public health.¹ The misuse and overuse of antibiotics, the article claimed, has resulted in recent dramatic increases in the incidence and mortality of Gram-negative bacteremia. The authors cite an estimate of "as many as 300,000 episodes and more than 100,000 fatalities from Gram-negative bacteremia"² annually. The authors also quote from an editorial in The Journal of Infectious Diseases attributing "a minimum of 50,000 deaths" to Gram-negative bacteremia,³ and suggest that the United States is presently in the throes of a "full-blown national epidemic."

The implication that antibiotics are the sole factor in the rising incidence of Gram-negative bacteremia and death is hardly credible in the light of the many complex variables involved in the etiology and treatment of Gram-negative infections. This article . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
From Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, New York.

Footnotes
Reprint requests to Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, Inc., 235 E 42nd St, New York, NY 10017 (Dr. Curti).

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