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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

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From:
Peter Loring Borst <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 6 Apr 2015 08:06:45 -0400
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> I find it interesting that antibiotics seem to do a much harm as good.  True they kill off bacteria that threaten us, but they also kill all the beneficials.  So, on balance, are they a good thing or not?

We have all heard this, but I don't think generally it's true. Many times, I have taken full course of antibiotics, with absolutely no noticeable side effects. On the plus side, the infection was controlled and I didn't die, or have my leg amputated. That was common in the pre-antibiotic world. I have seen severe negative reactions to antibiotics in others, and know full well of the consequences of infections that are resistant to all antibiotics. But these are still the exceptions. Most of the time, antibiotics save lives that would otherwise be lost.

These are importation conversations that can't be answered glibly. Who has more at stake here: those living in the present or unborn future generations? How do we factor the future in these decisions, given that it is unknowable?

> Patients with moderate to severe infections are given less than maximum empirical antibiotic treatment in order to reduce the rise in resistance. This practice involves two ethical dilemmas: whether the danger to a present patient should be increased (even if by a small degree) to benefit future, unidentified patients; and whether this should be done without the consent of the patient, disregarding the patient's autonomy. We argue that future patients have a right to come to no harm. Future patients being unidentified, practitioners of medicine have a duty to protect their rights and weigh them against the rights of the present patient. 

Leibovici, L., Paul, M., & Ezra, O. (2012). Ethical dilemmas in antibiotic treatment. Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy, 67(1), 12-16.

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