Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Infectious-Disease Experts Press Congress For Help Fighting Superbugs
CIDRAP: Senate Hearing Highlights Superbug Threats, Solutions
A panel of experts in infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and drug development [Tuesday] urged US lawmakers to support legislation that could help revitalize the antibiotic development pipeline. At a hearing held by a subcommittee of the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions, the experts spoke about the rising threat AMR poses to public health and modern medicine and the role that infection prevention, antibiotic stewardship, diagnostics, and a bolstered infectious disease workforce can play in addressing the problem. (Dall, 7/11)
Stat: Superbugs, Antibiotic Resistance Get Scrutiny In Congress
Melanie Lawrence doesn’t think she’ll live long enough to see her son graduate college. Lawrence, a patient with cystic fibrosis from Massachusetts, has been on antibiotics almost her whole life. Throughout her childhood and early teenage years, the antibiotics were “highly effective,” but with Lawrence now in her 40s, “the bacteria in my lungs are resistant to nearly all antibiotics,” she told the Senate HELP subcommittee on primary health & retirement security at a hearing on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) Tuesday. (Bajaj, 7/11)
In related news about antibiotic resistance —
CIDRAP: Inappropriate Dental Antibiotics Cost US Healthcare System Millions, Study Finds
Inappropriate dental antibiotic prescriptions to prevent infective endocarditis cost the US healthcare system nearly $31 million a year, according to a modeling study published today on Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology. (Dall, 7/10)
CIDRAP: Pharmacist Review Identifies Improper Antibiotic Prescriptions
A pilot study conducted at an academic medical center highlights the benefits of direct review of antibiotic prescriptions by pharmacists, researchers reported today in Antimicrobial Stewardship & Healthcare Epidemiology. (Dall, 7/10)
Updates from HHS and NIH —
Roll Call: HHS Proposes Expanding Nondiscrimination Protections
The Biden administration on Tuesday proposed expanding nondiscrimination protections related to sexual orientation and gender identity to some federal grant programs providing human services. While most of the Department of Health and Human Services's purview covers health care, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the National Institutes of Health, those health programs and services, said Melanie Fontes Rainer, the director of HHS' Office of Civil Rights, are covered under a provision of the 2010 health law preventing discrimination based on factors like sex, race and national origin. The new rule would focus on human services, such as some of the HHS programs covered by the Administration for Children and Families including Head Start and services provided to homeless individuals, refugees and those experiencing substance use or mental health disorders. (Raman, 7/11)
Politico: Bernie Sanders Is Personally Stopping Biden’s NIH Nominee — And He’s Not Budging
Monica Bertagnolli’s candidacy is stalled indefinitely, caught up in a standoff between the administration and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) over Biden’s drug pricing agenda. It’s a process that’s become so unexpectedly drawn out and uncomfortable for Bertagnolli that her allies privately question at what point it’s no longer worth the hassle. In addition to juggling full-time duties at NCI and her candidacy to run NIH, Bertagnolli recently underwent treatment for her own breast cancer diagnosis. (Cancryn, 7/11)
