A Pledge for Antimicrobial Stewardship in Pediatrics
A Pledge for Antimicrobial Stewardship in Pediatrics
"Clear!"
Every time you hear that command during a code, you can thank Bernard Lown, MD, for inventing the device that you are preparing to employ to save your patient's life. Dr Lown led the team that invented the defibrillator in the early 1960s. His work on the defibrillator is just one achievement in Lown's incredibly illustrious career. Other notable accomplishments include accepting a Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, the activist group he cofounded with a Soviet colleague. In the early 1960s, he founded Physicians for Social Responsibility. Dr Lown has written hundreds of scholarly publications as well as his 1996 book, The Lost Art of Healing: Practicing Compassion in Medicine.
Although Dr Lown was not a pediatrician, his compassion for children is illustrated by his instrumental role in the late 1960s when bringing injured and burned Vietnamese children to the United States for medical care as part of the Committee of Responsibility to Save War Burned and War Injured Vietnamese Children.
At the age of 94, Dr Lown still has more fire power than most defibrillators, harnessed through a steadfast commitment to improving health, healthcare, and social justice. Much of that energy is channeled into the Lown Institute, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Boston that is trying to spark a grassroots movement to transform healthcare. The Institute is dedicated to advocating "for a transformation of the healthcare system and for a redirection of resources currently being wasted in healthcare toward promoting community health and redressing health disparities." The focus is on fostering open conversations among healthcare providers, patients, and other community members about overuse in medicine, a term that applies to any care that is unnecessary, ineffective, or unwanted.
The RightCare Alliance, the movement launched by the Institute, has representation from virtually all medical specialties as well as patients, patient advocates, consumer groups, community groups, business groups, and public health. The Alliance also has a specific focus on the critical evaluation of the medical evidence and promotion of evidence-based care.
RightCare Action Week (October 18-24, 2015) is an initiative of the RightCare Alliance that has recruited hundreds of doctors and other healthcare professionals around the country who will take action during the week. The goal is to promote healthcare that is effective, affordable, needed, and wanted by well-informed patients. These actions can be personal or institutional, but they should be concrete, public, and meaningful. Some proposed actions are available online.
The Pediatrics Council of the RightCare Alliance has chosen to champion the cause of antimicrobial stewardship for RightCare Action Week. Antibiotic overuse is a major threat to public health. A study published in 2014 found that, in the United States, there were more than 11.4 million unnecessary prescriptions for antibiotics written annually for children. Unnecessary antibiotics lead to avoidable side effects, bacterial resistance, and increased costs. In childhood, antibiotic exposure has been associated with the development of multiple chronic diseases such as asthma, allergies, diabetes, and other autoimmune conditions.
Who Is Bernard Lown?
"Clear!"
Every time you hear that command during a code, you can thank Bernard Lown, MD, for inventing the device that you are preparing to employ to save your patient's life. Dr Lown led the team that invented the defibrillator in the early 1960s. His work on the defibrillator is just one achievement in Lown's incredibly illustrious career. Other notable accomplishments include accepting a Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, the activist group he cofounded with a Soviet colleague. In the early 1960s, he founded Physicians for Social Responsibility. Dr Lown has written hundreds of scholarly publications as well as his 1996 book, The Lost Art of Healing: Practicing Compassion in Medicine.
Although Dr Lown was not a pediatrician, his compassion for children is illustrated by his instrumental role in the late 1960s when bringing injured and burned Vietnamese children to the United States for medical care as part of the Committee of Responsibility to Save War Burned and War Injured Vietnamese Children.
The Lown Institute
At the age of 94, Dr Lown still has more fire power than most defibrillators, harnessed through a steadfast commitment to improving health, healthcare, and social justice. Much of that energy is channeled into the Lown Institute, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Boston that is trying to spark a grassroots movement to transform healthcare. The Institute is dedicated to advocating "for a transformation of the healthcare system and for a redirection of resources currently being wasted in healthcare toward promoting community health and redressing health disparities." The focus is on fostering open conversations among healthcare providers, patients, and other community members about overuse in medicine, a term that applies to any care that is unnecessary, ineffective, or unwanted.
The RightCare Alliance, the movement launched by the Institute, has representation from virtually all medical specialties as well as patients, patient advocates, consumer groups, community groups, business groups, and public health. The Alliance also has a specific focus on the critical evaluation of the medical evidence and promotion of evidence-based care.
RightCare Action Week (October 18-24, 2015) is an initiative of the RightCare Alliance that has recruited hundreds of doctors and other healthcare professionals around the country who will take action during the week. The goal is to promote healthcare that is effective, affordable, needed, and wanted by well-informed patients. These actions can be personal or institutional, but they should be concrete, public, and meaningful. Some proposed actions are available online.
The Pediatrics Council of the RightCare Alliance has chosen to champion the cause of antimicrobial stewardship for RightCare Action Week. Antibiotic overuse is a major threat to public health. A study published in 2014 found that, in the United States, there were more than 11.4 million unnecessary prescriptions for antibiotics written annually for children. Unnecessary antibiotics lead to avoidable side effects, bacterial resistance, and increased costs. In childhood, antibiotic exposure has been associated with the development of multiple chronic diseases such as asthma, allergies, diabetes, and other autoimmune conditions.
Source...