In an upcoming position paper the Infectious Diseases Society of America suggests that overuse of antibiotics could be controlled via a REMS-like approach – or even an actual REMS.
Interesting idea, because something new must be done. The problem of antibiotic resistance is a real, urgent, and relatively silent public health crisis. For those who rant about the influence of DTC advertising on the doctor/patient dialogue -- it doesn't even hold a candle to a parent's plaintive plea for a prescription when their child has an ear ache.
In the past, FDA has worked with the CDC on consumer education programs such as “Cough, Sniffle, Sneeze – No Antibiotics, Please." But such efforts have met with only modest success (and that’s being generous).
If it takes a REMS to drive the safe and appropriate use of antibiotics, then so be it. Burdensome on docs, yes – but they have nobody to blame but themselves.
