Arizona declines to set up state-based health insurance exchange

PHOENIX (Reuters) – Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said on Wednesday she was rejecting a major provision of President Barack Obama‘s healthcare reform law that calls for creating state-based health insurance markets where consumers can purchase private, federally subsidized coverage.

Citing lingering questions about the plan and operating costs she said would be passed on to families and small businesses, Brewer, a Republican, said Arizona would join at least 16 other states in opting instead for a federally run health insurance exchange.

Such networks are designed to function as online insurance markets where the uninsured can shop for private health plans offered at federally subsidized rates, and are an integral provision of the Affordable Care Act, a centerpiece of Obama’s first term in office.

Brewer, along with many other Republicans, has been an outspoken critic of Obama’s healthcare overhaul initiative, calling it an “overreaching and unaffordable assault on states’ rights and individual liberty.”

Under a newly extended deadline, states have until December 14 to notify the U.S. Health and Human Services Department whether they intend to comply with the insurance exchange mandate or leave it to the federal government to set up and operate exchanges for them.

Seventeen states plus the District of Columbia have told the Obama administration they intend to move ahead with their own exchanges, while Arizona became the latest of 17 states to reject the plan outright in favor of a federally based exchange, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, which has closely tracked the issue.

Most of those opting out are states in the Midwest or South. Six more states have sought to join with HHS in setting up a hybrid federal-state network, and 10 states remain undecided, the foundation said.

CALLS OPPOSITION ‘UNWAVERING’

“My opposition to the Affordable Care Act is unwavering, as is my belief that it should be repealed and replaced,” Brewer said in a statement announcing her decision. Republican Mitt Romney, who lost to Obama in the November 6 presidential election, had vowed to repeal the law if elected.

Acknowledging that the law had been upheld as constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, and despite her advocacy of greater local control, Brewer said her state would be better off ceding management of a system she said would be dominated by the federal government in any case.

“I have come to the conclusion that the state of Arizona would wield little actual authority over its ‘state’ exchange,” she said.

Although startup costs of exchanges are to be borne by the federal government, Brewer said Arizona stood to incur $ 27 million to $ 40 million in operating expenses starting in 2015, and that those costs would be passed along in the form of higher premiums to policy holders.

Brewer, who has clashed sharply with the Obama administration on a number of issues, especially immigration policy, made her intentions known in a one-page letter to HHS on Wednesday.

The state, which also has a Republican-controlled Legislature, had spent millions of dollars in federal grant money over the past several months laying the groundwork for the possible creation of a healthcare exchange.

Brewer faced heavy lobbying from some conservative Republicans who opposed setting up a state-run exchange, while a number of business groups and healthcare organizations favored creating one. State Democrats also strongly support a state-run exchange.

One top Democratic lawmaker criticized Brewer for “an irresponsible decision” that wasted millions of dollars already spent preparing for a state-run exchange.

“The governor is going to throw that all away so she can push an extremist agenda,” state House of Representatives Minority Leader Chad Campbell said. “We’ve come to expect political grandstanding from her, but this is a whole new level.”

Campbell said in a statement the state exchange that Brewer rejected would be a plus for consumers, giving them more of a say over their healthcare decisions.

“The governor just signed over a lot of power to the federal government,” he added.

(Reporting by David Schwartz; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Peter Cooney)

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Family learns of student’s death on Facebook

ATLANTA (AP) — The parents of a south Georgia college student first learned from Facebook that their daughter had been found dead in a dormitory study room shortly before Thanksgiving. Now, they hope that Facebook and other social media sites can help solve the death of 17-year-old Jasmine Benjamin, which police are investigating as a homicide.

The Valdosta State University freshman was found unresponsive on a study room couch on Nov. 18.

A family friend forwarded the Facebook post about the teen’s death to her parents before they were officially notified by authorities, said A. Thomas Stubbs, an attorney for the victim’s mother, Judith Brogdon, and her stepfather, James Jackson. But many questions remain unanswered about how she died.

The family has hired a private investigator, and a new Facebook site has been set up in hopes that students and others might share tips.

While some Facebook comments have already been turned over to law enforcement officers, the family hopes friends, classmates or others who noticed suspicious comments will also alert authorities.

“Anything that reveals a little more information than what’s publicly known about her death, those are the kind of comments police are looking for as someone who might warrant a closer examination,” Stubbs said.

Also of interest are “unusual comments or unusually timed comments about her death,” he said.

Police detectives have canvassed dormitories and interviewed several students on the campus, located about 250 miles south of the family’s home in Gwinnett County, outside Atlanta.

Benjamin wanted to follow the career path of her mother and become a nurse.

Police say they’re treating the case as a homicide, though autopsy results are not complete and they can’t say for certain whether she was killed. There were no obvious signs of a crime when her body was found, but an autopsy raised questions, authorities have said.

“We’re providing what resources are necessary to assist Valdosta State University police in solving this crime,” Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead said. “The crime lab is expediting evidence from this incident.”

Shortly after Benjamin’s parents learned of her death from Facebook, Lawrenceville police officers knocked on the doors of the family home to inform them officially that their daughter was dead, Stubbs said.

“As frustrating as that may be for the family to learn that way, they understand it’s a different world,” Stubbs said.

The family has yet to learn the possible timeframe of when their daughter died, and police have not shared any theories about how she was killed, Stubbs said.

“We know that they have looked at the phone records, video records that they can find in the school,” he said. Beyond that, they’ve been going through legal procedures that are required to obtain records from Facebook Inc.

The family hired Martinelli Investigations Inc. of Lawrenceville to assist in the investigation.

Private investigator Robin Martinelli said Wednesday that any video near the scene, even if may seem insignificant, could prove helpful in the investigation.

“It wouldn’t matter if it was two weeks before, two hours before or 20 minutes before,” she said.

Martinelli said she’s confident that police are working diligently to follow up on leads, but private investigators can often provide valuable assistance, she said.

“On any homicide, they’re going to work around the clock aggressively every minute, and they’re doing that,” she said.

She said Jasmine Benjamin was a strong student who showed great potential. “Her favorite color was purple, her nickname was Jazzy,” she said.

“She wanted to help people, plain and simple,” her stepfather, James Jackson, told WSB-TV. “That was her goal in life. That’s all she talked about since she was young — ‘I want to be able to help people.’”

Valdosta State campus police, city police and the GBI were working together to conduct interviews and collect evidence, the university said in a statement Tuesday. University officials said they couldn’t release any further information.

Martinelli hopes students away at college keep in touch with their parents — and give them the passwords to social networking sites and their cell phones in case anything happens.

“If you have passcodes to your computer, your phone, please tell your parents,” she said. “Don’t tell everybody in the world, but tell your parents your passcodes.”

She said some of the best advice parents can give students is this: “They should listen to their gut,” she said. “If they walk into a situation and it’s not feeling right, leave.”

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Rugby-England add flyhalf Burns to squad for All Blacks’ test

LONDON, Nov 27 (Reuters) – England called up uncapped Gloucester flyhalf Freddie Burns on Tuesday to their squad for Saturday’s test against New Zealand in place of the injured Toby Flood.

Flood sustained ligament damage to a big toe during the 16-15 loss to South Africa at Twickenham last Saturday.

Owen Farrell, whose last start was in the first test in South Africa this year, is set to replace Flood in the starting XV against the world champions.

Lock Courtney Lawes, who missed England’s first three tests of the November series because of a knee injury, has also been included in the 23-man squad. Two other locks, Mouritz Botha and Tom Palmer, have been omitted.

After beating Fiji in their opening match, England have lost to Australia and the Springboks and now face a daunting match against the All Blacks who are unbeaten in 20 tests since the start of their victorious World Cup campaign last year.

“For those in Saturday’s squad the message is clear – last week we went toe to toe with the second best team in the world and felt we should have won,” England head coach Stuart Lancaster said in a statement.

“Now we have a chance to take on the number one side in front of a passionate Twickenham crowd, who have been fantastic throughout the Internationals, and it is a challenge we will meet head on.” (Reporting by John Mehaffey; Editing by Ken Ferris)

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Robbie Williams aims to seal solo legacy with tour

LONDON (Reuters) – Still famous as the in-again/out-again member of chart-topping boyband Take That, British singer Robbie Williams says it is time to get serious as a solo artist and prove his place at the top of the pop pile.

Williams told reporters on Monday he planned a 15-date European stadium tour kicking off in Manchester on June 19, 2013 and concluding in Tallinn, Estonia on August 20.

“I’m buzzing. I’m ready to go. I haven’t done a tour of this size since 2006,” he said in London.

“I think it’s legacy time, because I’m venturing into getting my handicap down at golf and all that business.

“I’m nearly 40, that’s what I’m trying to say. I want to go and seal my place in pop history and go off and deliver a tour of great magnitude while I still can.”

The 38-year-old in fact enjoyed major success after leaving Take That in 1995, producing a string of hit albums and singles including “Angels” and “Millennium” and signing a contract with EMI in 2002 reportedly worth tens of millions.

But by the time his 2006 album “Rudebox” came out followed by “Reality Killed the Video Star” in 2009, he was seen as a dwindling force in British pop who had failed to break the key U.S. market.

Williams rejoined Take That in 2010 and they recorded the hit album “Progress” before touring together in 2011, and the singer said the experience had helped give him confidence to tour large venues again as a solo artist.

“I just ran out of ideas and ran out of a bit of creativity and ran out of energy and did the textbook ‘burnt out’,” he said of the late 2000s.

“But I’ve been working really hard and I needed to do something else, and fortunately it came in the shape of my old band. A lot of demons were vanquished from the past. A lot of wrongs were put to rights.

“That tour last summer was just absolutely incredible. It kick-started my professional career.”

Earlier this month, Williams returned to the top of the album charts with “Take the Crown”.

Asked whether he would consider rejoining Take That again, he replied: “I haven’t officially left … What I do know is that … if we all remain healthy then I will definitely be a part of Take That at some point. It’s joyful being around them.”

Williams conceded it may be too early to talk about his legacy at 38, but added he wanted to “put my stamp down.

“The fact that 40 is looming plays on my mind more than it does on anybody else’s mind. Pop stars cease to be pop stars at 40 and start being old people singing, don’t they?

“There is a forum for a male solo star to get up there in stadiums and own the place and I want that to be me, so I’ve kind of been lethargic for the last couple of albums.”

Williams recently became a father, and said his daughter would accompany him on tour. Olly Murs, who rose to fame on “The X Factor” reality TV show, will support Williams on his tour.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)

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Flu Symptoms Drove Boston Mayor to Hospital

When Boston Mayor Thomas Menino ended his vacation in Italy short this fall and checked into a Boston hospital complaining of a respiratory infection, it led doctors to find and treat a blood clot in his leg, a fracture in his back, an infection around the fracture and type 2 diabetes.

Cold and flu symptoms from respiratory infections can be a hassle, but sometimes that fever and cough can be good for just getting people to the doctor.

“That’s why every patient needs a careful evaluation because every once in a while, what the patient thinks is the flu or reports as the flu is not,” said Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of preventative medicine at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. “I would say 99 percent of people who present to the emergency room and doctor’s office with symptoms of influenza – that is cough, fever and the like – are certainly going to have influenza.”

Click here to read about cold- and flu-fighters.

Menino, 69, arrived at Brigham and Women’s Hospital on Oct. 25, complaining of fatigue and a cough, and doctors described him as “extremely washed out” with some “malaise.” In addition to the respiratory infection, doctors found a blood clot that traveled from Menino’s leg to his lungs.

Respiratory illnesses, like the one that initially drove Menino to seek medical attention, can often range from mild to severe, Schaffner said.

“He was feeling poorly enough to end what was supposed to be a very pleasant vacation, and when he got here, he was very weak and very washed out,” Dr. Dale Adler, Menino’s doctor, said during a press conference in mid-November.

Doctors can usually tell whether flu-like symptoms are the result of a respiratory infection or something else soon after the patient is admitted. If not, they can perform a series of tests to find out.

Click here to read about flu fact and fiction.

(The flu can lead to other ailments, the most common of which is pneumonia, or an infection of the lungs, Schaffner said.

About 1.1 million pneumonia patients were hospitalized and discharged in 2009, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On average, they stayed in the hospital 5.2 days.)

Weeks later, Menino was still in the hospital. Although his illness and clot had been resolved, he was complaining of back pain, which doctors discovered was the result of a compression fracture and an infection around the fracture.

Finally, doctors discovered that Menino had underlying type 2 diabetes, which may have contributed to the infection, Menino’s doctor said during a press conference on Monday.

It’s not clear how Menino’s initial flu-like symptoms tied into his other ailments, but doctors said they are positive about his prognosis. The mayor relocated to a rehabilitation center on Monday.

“It is a run of bad luck,” Morris said of Menino. “He will rebound from this.”

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Play Your Wii U Anywhere — Even on a Train

Wii U on a Train

No need for a TV set. If you plug the Wii U in, you can interact entirely with the GamePad. This is on a Japanese Shinkansen, a high-speed train.

Click here to view this gallery.

[More from Mashable: Nintendo Unveils Wii Mini for the Canucks]

Nintendo’s new Wii U console may have one real advantage over the competition: portability. Since you don’t need a television to play a good portion of the Wii U titles, gaming on the road is as easy as locating a power outlet.

Rocket News 24 tested the console’s mobility by taking a Wii U on a Japanese bullet train, which has power outlets at every seat. Thanks to that — and a little iPhone tethering magic — their staff was able to play New Super Mario Brothers U and Call of Duty Black Ops 2 while riding comfortably.

[More from Mashable: Wii U Sells 400,000 Units in First Week]

Check out Rocket News 24 to see more pictures and a full recount of their experience.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

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Dog days in Cuba: from shih tzus to schnauzers

HAVANA (AP) — The Cuban capital has played host to political summits and art festivals, ballet tributes and international baseball competitions. Now dog lovers are getting their chance to take center stage.

Hundreds of people from all over Cuba and several other countries came to a scruffy field near Revolution Plaza this past week to preen and fuss over the shih tzus, beagles, schnauzers and cocker spaniels that are the annual Fall Canine Expo’s star attractions. There were even about a dozen bichon habaneros, a mid-sized dog bred on the island since the 17th century.

As dog lovers talked shop, the merely curious strolled the field, checking out the more than 50 breeds on display while carefully dodging the prodigious output of so many dogs.

The four-day competition, which ended Sunday, included competitions in several breeding categories, and judges were flown in from Nicaragua, Colombia and Mexico.

“This is a small, poor country, but Cubans love dogs,” said Miguel Calvo, the president of Cuba’s dog federation, which organized the show. “We make a great effort to breed purebred animals of quality.”

Winners don’t receive any trophy or prize money, but that doesn’t mean the competition is any less fierce.

Anabel Perez, owner of a cocker spaniel named Lisamineli after the U.S. actress, spent more than half an hour coifing the dog’s hair in preparation for the competition, while the owner of a shih tzu named Tiguer meticulously brushed his coat nearby.

“I’m a hairdresser for humans,” explained Tiguer’s owner, Miguel Lopez. “So it’s easy for me. I like shih tzus because they are a lot of work to keep well groomed.”

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New York, New Jersey put $71 billion price tag on Sandy

(Reuters) - New York state and New Jersey need at least $71.3 billion to recover from the devastation wrought by Superstorm Sandy and prevent similar damage from future storms, according to their latest estimates.

The total, which could grow, came as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Monday the state will need $41.9 billion, including $32.8 billion to repair and restore damaged housing, parks and infrastructure and to cover lost revenue and other expenses. The figure also includes $9.1 billion to mitigate potential damage from future severe weather events, Cuomo said.

Neighboring New Jersey, which saw massive damage to its transit system and coastline, suffered at least $29.4 billion in overall losses, according to a preliminary analysis released by Governor Chris Christie's office Friday. The preliminary cost estimate includes federal aid New Jersey has received so far.

By some measures, Sandy was worse than Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which tore into the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005, Cuomo said.

Sandy destroyed 305,000 houses in New York state - a still provisional number that's likely to grow - compared to the 214,700 destroyed in Louisiana by Katrina and Rita.

Sandy also caused nearly 2.2 million power outages at its peak in the state, compared to 800,000 from Katrina and Rita in Louisiana, and impacted 265,300 businesses compared to 18,700, Cuomo said.

While Sandy may have damaged more homes and businesses, Katrina took a far greater toll on human lives, killing more than 1,800 people directly or indirectly. Sandy, by comparison, is believed to have killed at least 121 people.

"Hurricane Katrina got a lot of notoriety for the way government handled -- or mishandled, depending on your point of view -- the situation," Cuomo said at a press conference.

But considering the dense population of the area Sandy impacted and costs to the economy, housing, and businesses, the damage done "was much larger in Hurricane Sandy than in Hurricane Katrina, and that puts this entire conversation, I believe, in focus," Cuomo said.

Sandy made landfall in New Jersey on October 29. It blasted through the Northeastern U.S., devastating homes, forcing evacuations, crippling power systems and shutting down New York City's subway system for days.

TAKING SANDY COSTS TO CONGRESS

The total cost to the region is still not known as estimates of the damage, as well as future repair and prevention costs, continue to come in from states, cities and counties.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Monday he will ask Congress for $9.8 billion to pay for Sandy costs not covered by insurance or other federal funds.

In a letter to New York's congressional delegation, Bloomberg said public, private and indirect losses to the city from the devastating late-October storm stood at $19 billion.

Of that, private insurance is expected to cover $3.8 billion, with Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursements to cover at least an additional $5.4 billion, Bloomberg said in a statement.

The city still will need the additional $9.8 billion to help pay for costs that FEMA does not cover, like hazard mitigation, long-term housing, shoreline restoration and protection efforts, he said.

Whatever the final tally, officials are beginning to pressure Congress for federal assistance.

Cuomo met on Monday with the state's Congressional delegation and county officials. U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said in a statement that New York's Congressional delegation will push hard for additional federal funding.

"The federal government has a clear responsibility to commit all of the necessary resources to help us rebuild," she said.

Getting federal funds could be a tough fight, because of pressure on lawmakers to cut spending and raise taxes in order to shrink the federal deficit.

"This will be an effort that lasts not weeks, but many months, and we will not rest until the federal response meets New York's deep and extensive needs," said U.S. Senator Charles Schumer in a statement.

NUMBERS GAME

Cuomo's earlier estimates had pegged the total amount of damages for the region at $50 billion, with about $33 billion of that incurred in New York state.

In New York City, Bloomberg said on Monday that the city had about $4.8 billion of uninsured private losses, $3.8 billion of insured private losses, and $4.5 billion in losses to city agencies.

Reconstructing the city's damaged roads alone could cost nearly $800 million, Bloomberg said. New York City, a financial and tourism center, also lost about $5.7 billion in gross city product, he said.

Included in Cuomo's nearly $9.1 billion of mitigation costs are what he called "common sense" actions, like flood protection for the World Trade center site, roads, subway tunnels and sewage treatment plants, as well as power generators for the region's fuel supply system and backup power for health care facilities.

"We will see new projects," said Mysore Nagaraja, former president of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Capital Construction Co.

"In order to justify whatever money they finally end up getting, they have to come up with this list of projects that need to be done so that the future Sandy will not have the impact it had this time," he said.

Nagaraja is currently chairman of Spartan Solutions LLC, an infrastructure consulting firm.

(Reporting by Hilary Russ; Additional reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Maureen Bavdek, Bill Trott and Phil Berlowitz)

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Man accused of stealing Tim Allen’s Chevy Impala

DENVER (AP) — A man suspected of stealing one of Tim Allen‘s custom cars says the comedian left the keys so he could drive it to Denver.

Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson said Monday that 34-year-old Faustino Ibarra is being held without bond while awaiting extradition to California after his arrest on Saturday.

In a jailhouse interview with KDVR-TV (http://bit.ly/TpJirK ), Ibarra claimed Allen adopted him years ago. Jackson said there is no evidence of any adoption.

Ibarra said Allen had left the door to his garage open along with the keys.

Police confirmed that the customized 1996 Chevrolet Impala SS belonged to the “Home Improvement” star but said it hadn’t yet been reported stolen when it turned up in Denver.

Allen’s publicist Marleah (mar-LEE-uh) Leslie said she wouldn’t comment because it’s a police matter.

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Medications for Treating a Common Infection Are Losing Effectiveness

The misuse and overuse of antibiotics continues to be a vexing problem in the United States, particularly in the southeastern part of the country, according to a new report that tracks antibiotic resistance patterns.

The survey found a decline in the number of MRSA infections—methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus—a potentially dangerous skin infection. However, more antibiotics are becoming resistant to the bacteria that cause urinary tract infections, which is a common infection that had been fairly easy to treat until recently.

The data were released by Extending the Cure, a project of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy, a nonprofit think tank with offices in Washington, D.C. and New Dehli. The organization’s mission is to gather evidence on antibiotic overuse and resistance.

“People don’t realize we’ve only had antibiotics for about 70 years. That is a very, very short period of time,” Ramanan Laxminarayan, director of Extending the Cure, told Take Part. “We have these wonderful, helpful drugs that are able to do things that we’ve never done before—and now we’re about to lose them again. I don’t think people realize how much we depend on them.”

Unnecessary use makes antibiotics less effective in fighting off infections because, when repeatedly exposed to certain drugs, microbes change and become resistant. Widespread publicity about antibiotic overuse has led to some positive changes in prescribing patterns. Antibiotic prescriptions in the United States fell 17 percent from 1999 to 2012, according to the report. Far fewer pediatricians, for example, prescribe antibiotics for children’s mild respiratory symptoms and earaches.

“That is really good news,” Laxminarayan says. “There is progress at reducing antibiotic use at things where people think they should never have been prescribed in the first place. We’re not denying antibiotics when people really need it. We are denying antibiotics when we don’t need it.”

MORE: The Verdict Is in: Antibiotics in Animal Feed Create Superbugs

Moreover, the ability to treat skin infections has improved since the peak days of MRSA cases in the mid-2000s. MRSA infections have fallen by about half due to efforts to find new therapies and interventions.

However, antibiotic resistance is still a huge problem, Laxminarayan says. The report found that some of the drugs used to treat urinary tract infections are failing because bacterial resistance to those medications has increased by more than 30 percent since 1999.

Urinary tract infections, which are caused by the E. coli bacteria, account for more than 8.6 million visits to healthcare professionals each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If untreated, these infections can turn into life-threatening bloodstream infections.

“Things that were commonly treatable are not as treatable anymore,” Laxminarayan says.

MORE: Study Uncovers Alarming Worldwide Rates of Drug-Resistant TB

Hospitals remain at the center of the antibiotic-resistance problem, he says. Hospital patients are typically older and sicker, and heavy antibiotic use is often necessary. But hospitals can help address antibiotic resistance by taking steps to curb the spread of infections within the hospital, he says. Five to eight percent of people develop an infection while in the hospital.

“We have sharply increased resistance around the country because it is not going down in hospitals, and hospitals are where the worse kinds of resistance are found,” he says. “We’ve advocated for having stronger hospital infection control. If you stop the infection from spreading, you don’t have to worry about resistance. We need pretty much a revolution regarding infection control in hospitals.”

The survey also found eye-opening regional differences regarding antibiotic resistance, such as higher levels of antibiotic overuse in the southeastern United States. It’s not clear why that area of the country has lagged behind, he says.

MORE: Judge to FDA on Antibiotics: Prove They’re Safe

The survey found that residents of Appalachian and Gulf Coast states, where antibiotic use rates are highest, take about twice as many antibiotics per capita as people living in Western states. In 2010, the five states with the highest rates of antibiotic use in the nation were Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The five states with the lowest antibiotic use in the nation were Alaska, Hawaii, California, Oregon, and Washington.

Extending the Cure displays its data online via the ResistanceMap, a tool created to track changes in antibiotic drug use and resistance. People can see how the area they live in compares to other regions.

“We want people to be knowledgeable and therefore empowered about what they can do about the problem,” Laxminarayan says.

Earlier this month, the CDC, Extending the Cure and 25 other national health organizations issued a joint consensus statement on the need to preserve antibiotic effectiveness and fight over-use.

“When so many government agencies and public organizations have signed on it indicates we’re all pointing in the same direction,” Laxminarayan says.

Question: What should be done to reduce the overuse of antibiotics? Tell us what you think in the Comments.

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Shari Roan is an award-winning health writer based in Southern California. She is the author of three books on health and science subjects.

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