


Healthcare Leadership
Superbugs
Antibiotic Resistance
Brad Spellberg, MD



Scientist
Immunotherapy Research
Author
Healthcare Policy Expert

Brad Spellberg, MD
Dr. Spellberg is Chief Medical Officer at the Los Angeles County + University of Southern California (LAC+USC) Medical Center.
Recent Media for Dr. Spellberg
Watch PBS Frontline 5/18/21: The Healthcare Divide
Listen to NPR 5/18/21 (8 min story--if you've never heard of hard-to-place patients, your mind will be blown!): Hospitals Serving The Poor Struggled During COVID. Wealthy Hospitals Made Millions
Listen to Author Hour with Nikki Van Noy on Broken, Bankrupt, and Dying: How to Solve the Great American Healthcare Rip-Off
Watch the powerful documentary movie, Resistance, at www.resistancethefilm.com
Watch PBS Frontline Hunting the Nightmare Bacteria and companion interview with Dr. Spellberg
January 20th, 2023: Healio. ‘Shorter is better’ mantra begins to change antibiotic prescribing
January 18th, 2023: David Hoffman. Washington Post. Congress should not wait around for the end of the antibiotic era
December 7th, 2022: Frank Diamond. Fierce Healthcare. Bill that puts more antibiotics on market no sure thing
October 4th, 2022: The Conversastion. Medical guidelines that embrace the humility of uncertainty could help doctors choose treatments with more research evidence behind them
January 7th, 2022: LA Times: L.A. County sees a record 44,000 new coronavirus cases as staff shortages strain hospitals
January 6th, 2022: ABC 7 News: LA County reports 37,215 new COVID-19 cases, shattering previous record for daily infections
December 28th, 2021: LAist: Plenty Of Vaccines, But Few Nurses: How This COVID Surge Compares To Last Winter
August 11th, 2021: KCRW/NPR: Vaccine mandate for health care workers will save lives, according to those on the front lines
August 7th, 2021: KNX 1070 News: Some good news amid the Delta COVID misery: vaccination rates are slowly but surely on the rise
July 15th, 2021: KNX 1070 News: LA's unvaccinated 'going to get infected' amid Delta variant surge, says doctor
May 18th, 2021: PBS Frontline: Why Safety Net Hospitals May Be "On the Brink of a Precipe"
May 18th, 2021: NPR: Hospitals serving the poor struggled during COVID. Wealthy hospitals made millions
May 12th, 2021: LA Times: People are still dying from COVID in California despite huge progress. Here’s who they are
March 22th, 2021: CBS 2/KCAL 9 News: COVID-19 Update
March 16th, 2021: CBS Evening News: Moderna begins coronavirus vaccine trials in children under 12
January 12th, 2021: CBS Evening News: U.S. reports deadliest week yet in fight against COVID-19
January 11th, 2021: NPR KCRW: So Cal’s hospital system will hit ‘crisis care’ if extra post-December surge happens, says LA doctor
January 7th, 2021: NBC Today Show: A doctor says hospital is ‘dangerously’ close to crisis standards of care
January 3rd, 2021: CNN: 'For more than a month, US hospitals have had more than 100,000 coronovairus patients every day'
January 2nd, 2021: CNN: 'This is about total collapse of the health care system if we have another spike' of Covid-19
December 30th, 2020: MS NBC: 'You can't just snap your fingers and will these people into existence’: CA Dr. on lack of ICU staff
December 30th, 2020: CA Hospitals Hard Hit by COVID Turn Away Ambulances
December 24th, 2020: NPR: 'It's So Much Worse Than Before.' Dread And Despair Haunt Nurses Inside LA's ICUs
December 22nd, 2020: Doctor Says It’s A ‘Very Dangerous Strategy’ To Use Negative COVID-19 Test As Excuse To Gather
December 18th, 2020: Los Angeles Covid-19 Update: “I’m Not Going To Sugarcoat This. We Are Getting Crushed,” Says County-USC Hospital Chief
December 15th, 2020: CBS/KCAL-9: LA County Reports 7,344 New COVID-19 Cases, 48 Deaths
December 12th, 2020: CBS/KCAL-9: ‘We Are Not Through This’: Medical Professionals Urge Public To Heed Stay-At-Home Order
December 10th, 2020: CBS LA: FDA Panel Recommends Authorization Of Pfizer Vaccine
December 7th, 2020: KCRW Press Play with Madeleine Brand: Frustrated hospital staff, ICU beds running low, and possibly rough January: LA doctor on COVID
December 4th, 2020: ‘We’re inundated’ says chief medical officer at L.A. County’s busiest hospital
November 4th, 2020: Fortune Magazine: A blueprint for whoever wins the presidential election to fix America’s health care mess
October 26th, 2020: L.A. County reaches 7,000 deaths, more than 300,000 coronavirus cases
Public health experts say the county is at a dangerous precipice of surge or recovery
September 30th, 2020: COVID-19 Public Health Messaging Needs to Improve
September 22nd, 2020: The Business of Healthcare Podcast, Episode 70: Fee-For-Service — The Accidental Healthcare System
August 25th, 2020: What Harmed the Value of Infectious Disease Specialists?
August 13th, 2020: ‘That’s The Job’: Military Medical Professionals Join County/USC Staff To Treat Surge Of COVID-19 Patients
August 8th, 2020: Victor Blackwell CNN COVID Report: Doctor explains why you don't want to be in his ICU bed
August 4th, 2020: NBC Nightly News: U.S. hospitals see growing wave of coronavirus patients
August 4th, 2020: NBC Today Show: Inside a busy LA hospital’s battle to save poorest patients from coronavirus
July 28, 2020: NPR/KCRW Steve Chiotakis: Air Force medics come to LA County’s biggest public hospitals to help with COVID-19
July 28, 2020: When Science Speaks Podcast with Mike Grandinetti and Mark Bayer: How to Cure the U.S. Health Care System with Brad Spellberg, MD
July 28, 2020: The Hollywood Doc Show with Dr. Rahman
July 17, 2020: NPR/KCRW Madeleine Brand Press Play: How one of the US' busiest trauma centers is handling 'daunting' COVID patients
July 7, 2020: Experts Warn Masks Can Give Some False Sense Of Security, Encourage People To Socially Distance
July 3, 2020: CNN's The Lead with Jake Tapper: COVID-19 update for California
July 1, 2020: Dr. Travis Stork Podcast: COVID-19, Where Do We Go From Here (with Discussion of Broken, Bankrupt, and Dying)
May 14, 2020: Spectrum News 1: Angelenos Must Find Ways to Coexist with the Coronavirus
May 8, 2020: The Doctors: COVID-19 update (and introducing Broken, Bankrupt, and Dying)
April 24, 2020: NPR News: Why The Warning That Coronavirus Was On The Move In U.S. Cities Came So Late
April 10, 2020: How far has coronavirus spread? This test is a first step in trying to get back to normal life
March 23, 2020: Was coronavirus in LA in February? Researchers say probably yes
March 19, 2020: Coronavirus Solutions and Lessons with Dr. Brad Spellberg on The Doctors Podcast with Dr. Travis Stork
November 5, 2019: Annals On Call - Shorter-Duration Antibiotics for Community Acquired Pneumonia
October 11, 2019: Q&A: New model could improve antibiotic development
October 8, 2019: Papers highlight challenges, solutions in developing antibioticst
August 22, 2019: Nonprofit drug maker produces TB antibiotic after private companies wouldn’t
July 8, 2019: More Evidence That Shorter Pneumonia Tx Is Better
July 2, 2019: Nonprofit model for antibiotic development ‘overdue’
May 7, 2019: CBS News: LAPD Officers Contracted Staph Infection After Homeless Person Came Into Station
December 5, 2018: ‘Expected practice’ intervention reduces antibiotic prescriptions
November 8, 2018: The Fight Against Resistance: Shorter is Better
October 18, 2018: L.A. typhus outbreak adds fuel to the debates over homelessness and housing
July 19, 2018: Antibiotics Overused for Osteomyelitis in Sacral Pressure Ulcers
April 9, 2018: The Lean Antibiotic Mantra
August 2, 2017: The Common Wisdom on Antibiotics Is Wrong
March 21, 2017: Radio Health Journal interview
March 18, 2017: Check out wonderful new book by Mike Osterholm and Mark Olshaker--excerpt focusing on Abx resistance "Peer Into the Post-Apocalyptic Future of Antimicrobial Resistance"
February 28, 2017: ATTN: Health: What You Need to Know About 'Superbugs' Right Now
February 28, 2017: Medscape. Clinicians: Beware the Claim of Cost-Effectiveness
October 20, 2016: Medscape. Antibiotics: 5 Myths Debunked
October 18, 2016: BBC The Inquiry: "How Did We Mess Up Antibiotics"
September 28, 2016: National Webinar: The Future of Antibiotics and Resistance
September 20, 2016: NPR To the Point, on Antibiotic Resistance
September 16, 2016: CIDRAP Podcast on Antibiotic Stewardship and Resistance
September 7, 2016: Scientific American article on antibiotic resistance
July 2, 2016: NPR Science Friday interview on antibiotic resistance
June 21, 2016: Medscape Stopping Antibiotic Overprescribing: What Works?
June 3, 2016: Interview on NPR Science Friday, Fighting Antibiotic Resistance
May 27, 2016: New York Times, Short Answers to Hard Questions About Antibiotic Resistance
March 14, 2016: Interview with The Guardian, How antibiotic resistance could wreak havoc on health, food and travel, by Alison Moodie
February 7, 2016: Interview in Newsweek, TO FIGHT SUPERBUGS, SCIENTISTS ARE TURNING TOWARD ANTIBODIES by Laura Colarusso
October 19, 2015: Interview in US News and World Report, The New War on Bugs: Crafting an Effective Antibiotic Stewardship Program, by Kimberly Leonard (photo of Dr. Spellberg with Dr. Srinivasan from CDC)