The office of Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, has issued the following statement:
United States Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today chaired a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing on the rise of antimicrobial resistance. The hearing addressed the proliferation of methicillin-Staphylococcusaureus (MRSA) and other drug resistant infections.
Last year Brown introduced the Strategies to Address Antimicrobial Resistance (STAAR) Act, legislation that would address antimicrobial resistance, with Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT). This legislation would promote research on new antibiotics and establish an Office of Antimicrobial Resistance (OAR) at the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to coordinate the activities of agencies involved in drug resistance.
SENATOR BROWN'S STATEMENT:
'I'd like to thank our witnesses for joining us this morning. We welcome your insights as the committee examines a phenomenon that clearly has not received the attention it deserves.
'Over the last year, we have seen news reports about outbreaks around the country of dangerous infections for which there are few treatment options. One of the most common is a strain of staph infection that is resistant to penicillin and other related antibiotics, commonly referred to by the acronym MRSA.
'While MRSA was previously thought to occur only in hospital settings, Americans have begun to contract it in the community-at schools and through sporting activities. Last year, the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that MRSA infections occur in approximately 94,000 people each year and are associated with approximately 19,000 deaths-that supersedes AIDS deaths-a scourge that has taken hard thinking and legislation to help treat.
'MRSA is a wake-up call. It signals the need-the urgent need-to confront antimicrobial resistance. Antimicrobial resistance can occur whenever antibiotics are used inappropriately-when doctors overprescribe, when patients don't understand the importance of taking their full course of therapy, when animals are fed antibiotics to maintain health rather than to restore it, and when, in various ways, antimicrobials find their way into the environment.
'All of this takes its toll and in recent years, infections that used to be easily treated with antimicrobials are now drug resistant, leading to much more serious, sometimes life-threatening infections. We will hear testimony today from Brandon Noble who will share how his MRSA infection has had a profound effect on his life. Thank you, Brandon, for being here.
'Unfortunately, MRSA is just one of the drug-resistant infections setting the clock back on modern medicine. When our soldiers come home from Iraq and Afghanistan, they may face yet another deadly threat: drug resistant strains of acinetobacter.
'There are numerous drug resistant organisms, some of which could be avoided with better infection control practices on the part of medical personnel in hospitals and even simple hand washing. Our witness, Dr. Brennan, will elaborate on the issue of hospital-based infection control.
'It's clear that we also need new antimicrobial agents, which simultaneously move medical science forward and make up for the ground lost to drug-resistance. But there are barriers to creating new antibiotics. One of those barriers is profitability. Except in the rare case, antibiotics are short-term treatments, which mean they don't bring in as much revenue as those for chronic problems. We will hear from Dr. Eisenstein and Dr. Tollefson about some of the challenges we face in antibiotic development.
'We will also hear from Dr. Tenover, of the CDC, who will describe their efforts to track and combat antimicrobial resistance.
'Drs. Graham and Vogel will speak about the use of antimicrobials in animal feed. Chairman Kennedy has been instrumental in raising the profile of this important issue.
'In my state of Ohio, there were 12 outbreaks of MRSA last year. Ohioans contracted MRSA in health care settings, in the workplace, on sports teams, and in corrections facilities.
'I would like to relate the story of Dr. Froncie Gutman of Chagrin Falls, Chairman of Ophthalmology for 22 years at the Cleveland Clinic. In April of 2007, Dr. Gutman came down with pneumonia. By the time he went to the hospital, he was semi-conscious. He was given an antibiotic common in the treatment of bacterial pneumonia. But after a week, he wasn't getting better. His blood pressure dropped, he was going into septic shock, and his kidneys were shutting down. The doctors weren't able to identify the organism that was causing the infection. He was taken to surgery where a portion of his lung was removed and they were able then to identify the organism, MRSA. Dr. Gutman was in a coma for more than a week. Fortunately, he regained consciousness, and with the help of a newer antibiotic called Zyvox, Dr. Gutman has recovered. The message Dr. Gutman wants to convey about his experience is this: No matter the quality of care he received at the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Gutman would not be alive today without Zyvox. Now he is concerned about what will happen when these organisms adapt to Zyvox.
'Antimicrobial-resistance is a powerful counterforce undermining our nation's progress against infectious disease. We should not underestimate it and we must not ignore it. My friend, Senator Hatch, and I introduced the Strategies to Address Antimicrobial Resistance Act to reinvigorate efforts to combat antimicrobial-resistance-efforts that accelerated in the late 90s-and then stalled. Our bill would launch a coordinated effort to prevent outbreaks of MRSA and other dangerous drug-resistant infections. It would jumpstart research on superbugs and explore strategies to ensure a robust pipeline for new antibiotic drugs. I thank Senator Hatch for his leadership on this issue and for introducing this bill with me.
'And I look forward to hearing from our witnesses, whose testimony will no doubt underscore the importance of moving quickly and decisively against this major public health challenge.'
