Antibiotic Resistance is a Tragedy of the Commons That Necessitates Global Cooperation

Barlam T. F. Gupta K. , “Antibiotic Resistance Spreads Across Borders,” Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 43, no. 2, Supp. (2015).

Balasegaram M. Clift C. Røttingen J.-A. , “A Pathway towards an Alternative Business Model for Antibiotic Innovation: A Framework, Fund and Institutional Mechanism,” Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 43, no. 2, Supp. (2015): Available via aslme.org.

Grabowski H. Mortimer G. L. R. , “Recent Trends in Brand-Name and Generic Drug Competition,” Journal of Medical Economics 17, no. 3 (2013): 207–214.

Daulaire N. Bang A. Tomson G. Kalyango J. N. Cars O. , “Universal Access to Effective Antimicrobials: An Essential Feature of Global Collective Action against Antimicrobial Resistance,” Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 43, no. 2, Supp. (2015): Available via aslme.org.

Coase R. H. , “The Problem of Social Cost,” Journal of Law and Economics 3, no. 1 (1960): 1–44.

A five-year extension has already been implemented in the U.S. under Title VIII of the 2012 Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act. For a proposed indefinite exclusivity extension, see Kades E. , “Preserving a Precious Resource: Rationalizing the Use of Antibiotics,” Northwestern University Law Review 99, no. 2 (2005): 611–674. Kades' proposal is effectively rebutted in Outterson M. K. , “The Vanishing Public Domain: Antibiotic Resistance, Pharmaceutical Innovation and Global Public Health,” University of Pittsburgh Law Review 67, no. 1 (2005): 67–123.

See Hollis A. Ahmed Z. , “Preserving Antibiotics, Rationally,” New England Journal of Medicine 369, no. 26 (2013): 2474–2476, and So A. D. Shah T. A. Roach S. Chee Y. L. Nachman K. E. , “International Agreement to Address the Contribution of Animal Agriculture to Antibiotic Resistance: A One Health Approach,” Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 43, no. 2, Supp. (2015): Available via aslme.org.

For examples of potential policies, see: Behdinan A. Hoffman S. J. Pearcey M. , “Some Global Policies for Antibiotic Resistance Depend on Legally Binding and Enforceable Commitments,” Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 43, no. 2, Supp. (2015): Available via aslme.org.

The low number of health workers in some African countries is particularly troubling. See, for example, the WHO African Health Workforce Observatory, available at <http://www.hrh-observatory.afro.who.int/en/hrh-country-profiles/profile-by-country.html> (last visited May 7, 2015).

Nga D. , “Antibiotic Sales in Rural and Urban Pharmacies in Northern Vietnam: An Observational Study,” BMC Pharmacology and Toxicology 15, no. 6 (2014), available at <http://www.biomedcentral.com/2050–6511/15/6> (last visited May 15, 2015).

See Balasaegaram , supra note 3; Outterson K. Powers J. H. Daniel G. W. McClellan M. B. , “Repairing the Broken Market for Antibiotic Innovation,” Health Affairs, 34, no. 2 (2015): 277–285; and points 30 and 31 of the Antibiotic Resistance Coalition – Civil Society Declaration on Antibiotic Resistance, available at <http://www.reactgroup.org/uploads/ARC-declaration/ARC-declaration-May-22-2014.pdf> (last visited May 7, 2015).

See Outterson K. , “New Business Models for Sustainable Antibiotics,” Centre on Global health Security Working Group Papers, Chatham House (The Royal Institute of International Affairs), Working Groups on Antimicrobial Resistance, Paper 1 (2014): 14–10; Outterson K. Pogge T. Hollis A. “Combating Antibiotic Resistance through the Health Impact Fund,” in Cohen I. G. , ed., The Globalization of Health Care (New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013); and WHO, Research and Development to Meet Health Needs in Developing Countries: Strengthening Global Financing and Coordination , Report of the Consultative Expert Working Group on Research and Development: Financing and Coordination (2012), available at <http://www.who.int/phi/cewg_report/en/> (last visited May 13, 2015).

See Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol, available at <http://www.multilateralfund.org/default.aspx> (last visited May 7, 2015) and PAPER 7.

Ostrom E. , Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990).