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Researcher Says To Tackle Deadly Superbugs, Rethink Antibiotics

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Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) broths being removed from the incubator in the laboratory at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn, England. (AP)
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) broths being removed from the incubator in the laboratory at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn, England. (AP)

According to the Centers for Disease Control, more people die from MRSA than AIDS each year. MRSA, or Methicillin-resistant Staph infection, is a bacterial infection that's resistant to some antibiotics. And the increased prevalence of MRSA and other drug-resistant bacteria has public health officials worried that soon antibiotics won't work at all.

We speak with Kevin Outterson, associate professor of Law at Boston University.  He says that increased drug resistance is closely related to the way that we think about antibiotics: We overuse them, pharmaceutical companies over-market them, and they are too inexpensive.

This segment aired on February 18, 2011.

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