Global battle to contain threat of bacteria that drugs can’t destroy
Experts, said they ask more than 40 questions and “go to great lengths” to make sure antibiotics are needed.
Pharmacy2U said: “All of our GPs are GMC-registered and medicines are prescribed in line with strict guidelines from The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.”
The Online Clinic’s chief executive Robert MacKay said: “We are no less thorough than were we to see the patient face-to-face. We only prescribe antibiotics in the overall best interest of the patient.”
The Care Quality Commission has asked for full details of our investigation. Its deputy chief inspector Ruth Rankine said: “Digital and online present innovative ways to access healthcare, but corners must not be cut. Appropriate systems must be in place to ensure high-quality care. We will not hesitate to take action if we find this is not happening and patients are at risk.” The Royal Pharmaceutical Society called on patients to always speak to a doctor. President Martin Astbury said: “Those supplying medicines online should ensure their processes are robust as possible.” The Sunday Mirror handed the drugs to a pharmacist for safe disposal. ANTIBIOTIC resistance is “one of the biggest threats to global health”, says the World Health Organisation.
It warns: “A growing number of infections are becoming harder to treat as antibiotics become less effective.”
The UK’s Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies says, “at a conservative estimate”, 700,000 people a year are already dying because of drug-resistant TB and malaria. GPs in the UK have cut back the number of antibiotics they hand out by seven per cent.
Public Health England is to launch a campaign urging patients not to demand antibiotics for minor ailments.
And in the US, experts pointed to the death of a Nevada woman who had a bacterial infection that no antibiotic in America could have defeated.