An established Southern California emergency physician, Zachary Lutsky, MD, handled acute medical traumas for more than a decade at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. With a focus on preventive care, Dr. Zachary Lutsky has a particular concern about overprescription of drugs and increased antibiotic resistance.One emerging issue centers on the spraying of human antibiotics on rice cropland in countries such as Vietnam, China, and Cambodia. As reported in the journal CABI Agriculture and Bioscience, tetracycline and streptomycin are being applied as a safeguard against fungal diseases and insect infestations. In certain years, up to approximately 10 percent of rice within some regions were found to contain human antibiotics.The risk posed by this is that resistant bacteria and the antibiotics can remain present within the harvested crop. In cases where the food is not properly cooked, they can become part of the human food chain. In addition, a large portion of the sprayed antibiotic remains in the soil, which may create “reservoirs of resistance.” Recommendations for addressing such issues center on enhancing food safety regulations at national and international levels.
Zachary Lutsky, MD, graduated at the top of his class at RFU/Chicago Medical School before going on to become an accomplished emergency physician, including at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he served for more than a decade. Throughout his career, Dr. Zachary Lutsky has had an interest in topics such as antibiotic resistance.Posing a significant risk to public health, antibiotic resistance arises primarily from an overprescription of antibiotics. As urgent care centers across the country prescribe antibiotics for the common cold and other viral ailments unaffected by antibiotics, patients become at risk for gut issues and allergic reactions.The Journal of the American Medical Association recently published a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicating that 30 percent or more of antibiotic prescriptions are gratuitous. This overprescription may lead to a loss of antibiotic effectiveness.To combat this problem, the White House issued The National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria in 2015, setting a goal for decreasing overprescription by half within five years. Some groups have tackled the issue by providing lists of non-antibiotic alternative prescriptions and requiring that the reason for prescribing an antibiotic be indicated in patients’ electronic health record.
