The increasing resistance of bacteria to antibiotics, and pests to pesticides, threatens to undo some of the most remarkable advances made in public health and agriculture during the 20th century. Though the potential consequences of increased antibiotic and pesticide resistance are far reaching, regulatory efforts to address the problem are at a very early stage. This book aims to move discussions forward by presenting cutting edge research and a comprehensive application of economic tools to analyze how antibiotics and pesticides should be used to maximize their value to society.

Extending the Cure provides an objective evaluation of a number of policies to encourage patients, health care providers, and managed care organizations to make better use of existing antibiotics and to give pharmaceutical firms greater incentives to both develop new antibiotics and care about resistance to existing drugs.