Actually, that is not true. Antibiotics have much more regulations attached to the development and production of them. It also takes much longer to bring them to market (one came to market in 2002 that took 35 years to develop).
Not only that, but considering that a simple course in microbiology and genetics for doctors and nurses would let them see why over prescribing antibiotics and the prevalent misuse is why there are now superbugs... (ie antibiotics for a cold virus) Unfortunately, most medical and nursing students can opt out of genetics... leaving them without the scientific knowledge of how these bacteria mutate and become resistant.
I was not aware of that.
I certainly agree with you regarding the misuse of antibiotics. Scientists have been warning about this for some time. Seems their worst fears are materializing.
Vancomycin was a last ditch drug, and apparently it's not working on some newer strains of staph.
Sorry.
First, nurses don't prescribe medications (unless they are a nurse practitioner, and even then it is under the supervision of a physician). Second, upon my completion of RN school 15+ years ago, I distinctly remember being VERY well aware of drug-resistant germs (most nurses are compulsive when it comes to preventing nosocomial infections; it's ingrained into us at nursing school). 3. The reason people get antibiotics for colds is because it's much easier for the doc to write out the script, than it is for that doc to put up the brick wall, and field the daily phone calls from that patient until he/she receives their antibiotic. It's certainly not the right thing to do, it's just the easiest. I don't agree with it, given the increasing incidence of drug-resistant bugs, but that's the way it is in the real world.