The looming superbug crisis: Politics, profit, and Big Pharma | Matt McCarthy

Give yourself the gift of knowledge - subscribe to Big Think Edge: http://bit.ly/bigthinkedge Here's how we stop a health crisis before it wreaks havoc on us. - Alexander Fleming discovered a fungus that produced a chemical that could stop nearly every bacteria in its path. The 1950s are known as the Golden Era of Antibiotic Development. - However, today, there is a looming superbug crisis because bacteria has mutated whilst we've focused on treating other diseases, such as cancer and heart disease. - Many companies in the pharmaceutical industry don't want to take on the expensive risk of finding another antibiotic drug. However, a potential superbug crisis may compel us to use tax-break and patent policies to incentivize them to do so. Matt McCarthy, MD, graduated from Harvard Medical School and went on to complete his internal medicine residency at Columbia University Medical Center. He is the author of two national bestsellers, "The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly" and "Odd Man Out." His newest book, "Superbugs," is on-sale now (https://amzn.to/2KATjV4). He is also an assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell and a staff physician at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. If you're interested in licensing this or any other Big Think clip for commercial or private use, contact our licensing partner Executive Interviews: http://bit.ly/2QU1U5i Read more at BigThink.com: http://bit.ly/2ICFIdj Follow Big Think here: YouTube: http://goo.gl/CPTsV5 Facebook: http://bit.ly/1qJMX5g Twitter: https://twitter.com/bigthink