Ranking Members Waxman, Pallone, and DeGette Request Hearing on Public Health Risks From Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
Today Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman, Health Subcommittee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr., and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Diana DeGette sent a letter to Chairmen Fred Upton, Joe Pitts, and Tim Murphy requesting a hearing on the public health risks of increasingly prevalent and dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The letter was sent in the wake of an urgent warning by CDC Director Thomas Frieden, who described the bacteria as a “nightmare bacteria” for which “our strongest antibiotics don’t work.”
The members write, “we believe the Energy and Commerce Committee should hold a hearing on the public health risks from these potentially-deadly, antibiotic-resistant bacteria. ... These hearings should be held as quickly as possible to examine the appropriate federal response to this serious threat to public health.”
The Health Subcommittee held a series of hearings on antibiotic resistance in 2010, and Committee staff received a bipartisan briefing from NIH and CDC on a deadly outbreak of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in September 2012.
The full text of the letter is available below and online here.
March 7, 2013
The Honorable Fred Upton
Chairman
Committee on Energy and Commerce
2125 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
The Honorable Joe Pitts
Chairman
Subcommittee on Health
Committee on Energy and Commerce
2125 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
The Honorable Tim Murphy
Chairman
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
Committee on Energy and Commerce
2125 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Chairman Upton, Chairman Pitts, and Chairman Murphy:
We are writing to urge you to hold a hearing on the urgent warnings from public health officials about the risks of dangerous, antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Thomas Frieden stated that “we have a very serious problem” from Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), which he described as a “nightmare bacteria.” Dr. Frieden described these bacteria as a “triple threat”: they are resistant to nearly all antibiotics, they kill up to half the patients they infect, and they spread antibiotic resistance to other bacteria. CDC reported that strains of these antibiotic-resistant bacteria are becoming increasingly prevalent.
Beginning in April 2010, the Subcommittee on Health held a series of three hearings on antibiotic resistance, the first of which was titled “Antibiotic Resistance and the Threat to Public Health.” In September 2012, after reports of a deadly outbreak of antibiotic-resistant bacteria at a National Institutes of Health (NIH) facility, Committee staff received a bipartisan briefing from NIH and CDC on this incident.
Consistent with this record of oversight, we believe the Energy and Commerce Committee should hold a hearing on the public health risks from these potentially-deadly, antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The Committee could hear from officials at CDC and NIH, researchers, and health care providers to examine the causes of the increasing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, the risks these bacteria pose to the public, and the strategies used by hospitals and other health care providers to control the spread of these bacteria and the outbreaks they cause. These hearings should be held as quickly as possible to examine the appropriate federal response to this serious threat.
Thank you for your consideration of this request.
Sincerely,
Henry A. Waxman
Ranking Member
Frank Pallone, Jr.
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Health
Diana DeGette
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
Letter to Chairmen Upton, Pitts, and Murphy from Ranking Members Waxman, Pallone, and DeGette (March 7, 2013).