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Testimony for Public Hearing MRSA

Good afternoon Senator Handley and Representative Sayers and members of the Public Health Committee. My name is Jean Rexford and I serve as Executive Director of the CT Center for Patient Safety.

I am here today to ask that you strengthen bill number 579. Hospital-acquired infections caused by MRSA are on the rise. In 1974, only 2% of staph infections in health care settings were caused by MRSA; by 1995, the percentage was 22%; and by 2004, MRSA caused nearly 63% of all staph infections in health care settings. Allowing hospitals to move slowly to address this growing problem is unacceptable. They have had years to take action. I would like to see screening be required in their plan.

There is a new test that is cost effective. For as little as $42 per individual, the hospitals can save lives and money. Stamford Hospital has already begun to screen; clearly a business case can be made.

Community MRSA is a reportable condition to the Department of Public Health. I would like to see this legislation amended to include Hospital MRSA in those numbers. I believe that those numbers will be the impetus apparently needed to change their way of doing business. For years hospitals accepted these infections. But over those same years, MRSA has spread and spread rapidly. Recently Dr. Troyen Brennan, Chief Medical Officer at Aetna, told a business reporter that MRSA was widespread throughout the hospital. It is not acceptable. Hospitals that screen greatly reduce the rate of infection.

The CT Center for Patient Safety introduced legislation before this committee two years ago. And it took those two years to finally work out that hospitals would report central line infections in the ICU. That reporting began in January. But that is not enough. Wouldn’t it be far better to stop this deadly epidemic before the ICU? We need and can do more. Some patients are moved to the ICU after they have gotten MRSA in other areas of the hospital. The test for MRSA, recently approved by the FDA, can take as little as 72 minutes and can cost as little as $42 per individual. This is nothing compared to the human and financial costs of acquiring an infection.

Each time I do a radio or TV interview, I get the calls from people who have had MRSA or whose family member had it. These calls do not fall on deaf ears. In one case for one hospital I even called the DPH and asked for an investigation. How can we as a state know what we know and not require a lot more? Infections were once the dirty little secret of the hospitals. They no longer are and they are the reason we all joke about how dangerous it is to go into one.

I urge you to pass strengthened legislation. We are all health care consumers. Think about what each one of us wants for our families and ourselves. I am an activist, not a doctor so I have attached testimony submitted in Maryland by Dr. Jarvis. This clearly outlines what needs to be done and the extent of the problem and screening as a solution.

 

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Hartford Hospital on Probation 9 Feb Hartford Courant... more

MRSA screens urged for hospitals 30 Jan 2008 Connecticut Post ... more

Few Hospitals Screen for Staph 24 Oct 2007 AP ... more

Advice to Avoid Infection 23 Oct 2007 Wall Street Journal ... more

Hospitals Urged to Make Killer Bugs a Priority 22 Oct 2007 ... more

Declare War on Bacteria 19 Oct 2007 Hartford Courant ... more

Staph Infects 94,000 annually 17 Oct 2007 Kaiser Network ... more

Deadly Bacteria Found More Common Oct 17 2007 NY Times ... more

Leapfrog Survey: Hospitals Don't Take Steps Sept 10 2007 Leapfrog Group ... more

Hospital Infection Costs $$$ 9 Aug 2007 Boston Globe ... more

Hospital Cuts Infection 7 July 07 NY Times ... more

MRSA Watch monitors MRSA news via a unique directory ... more

Research Brief: Clostridium infections in PA Hospitals 11 May 07 PHC4 ... more

She was told she had “multi-organism sepsis” 18 May 07 LI Business News ... more

Betsy McCaughey crusades against dirty hospitals ... more

Pediatric ICUs Make Headway 18 Apr 07 The Wall Street Journal ... more

Bill would require testing for staph March 3 Peoria Journal Star ... more

Staph bug causes new, deadly pneumonia Jan 19 Reuters ... more

Two million infected in hospitals each year Jan 07 AARP Bulletin ... more

Betsy McCaughey, former NY lieutenant governor, writes in The New York Times on the devastation of hospital infection ... more

Pennsylvania First State to Report Hospital-Acquired Infection Rates:
Consumer Union article
Kaiser Network article

MRSA Infections Flood Emergency Department (MedPageToday) ... more

Bill Aims to Curb Hospital Infections (Danbury News-Times) ... more

Editorial: Hospitals' Germy Arguments (Hartford Courant ) ... more

Op-Ed: Hospitals Need to Come Clean (Hartford Courant - Betsy McCaughey) ... more

Editorial: Hospital Infections Should Be Public (New Haven Register) ... more

Landro: The Informed Patient (The Wall Street Journal)
4/5 Hospitals Get Aggressive on Hand Washing ... more
3/8 Hospitals Take New Steps Against Bacteria ... more

Hospitals Fight Fessin' Up CTCPS Quoted (New Haven Independent ) ... more

Activists Push Hospitals CTCPS Quoted (New Haven Register) ... more

An Act Concerning Hospital Acquired Infections
text of the bill that CTCPS is backing in the Connecticut legislature (PDF) View

Pa.'s Hospital-Acquired Infection Battle
Column from the Physician's News Digest. View

New Bug Sparks Fears
A Wall Street Journal story about a virulent new staph infection View

RID
Online home of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths, a non-profit organization devoted solely to reducing hospital infection rates View

When Hospitals Cause Illness ...
Article in Journal Inquirer cites CTCPS View

StopHospitalInfections.org
A project of Consumers Union, this site seeks the public disclosure of hospital infection rates. View

HAI in Pennsylvania
In January 2004, Pennsylvania hospitals began submitting data on hospital-acquired infections to the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4). View PDF

MRSA Watch
Collection of news about hospital infection, especially MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) infection. View

Drug-Resistant Bacteria Spreading
December 20, 2005 The Tennessean (Nashville) View

Rules on Spread of Drug-Resistant Germs December 19, 2005 Bloomberg News View

Hospital Infections: Come Clean with Patients November 29, 2005 The Philadelphia Inquirer View

Hospital Infections
November 15, 2005 NBC Channel 30, New Haven, CT View

Death Underscores Unsettling Surgical Truth November 9, 2005 The Boston Globe View

Woman Says Hospital Made Her Sick November 3, 2005 News Channel 7, Spartanburg, SC View