{"id":1988604,"date":"2023-08-02T11:22:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-02T15:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/congress-aims-to-tackle-antibiotics-time-bomb\/"},"modified":"2023-08-02T11:24:38","modified_gmt":"2023-08-02T15:24:38","slug":"congress-aims-to-tackle-antibiotics-time-bomb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/congress-aims-to-tackle-antibiotics-time-bomb\/","title":{"rendered":"Congress targets antibiotic crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">8<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcongress-aims-to-tackle-antibiotics-time-bomb%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1988604&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>The Urgent Need to Address Antibiotic Resistance<\/h2>\n<p>The world&#8217;s\u200d population\u2064 is facing a growing threat \u2064- the rise of antibiotic\u200b resistance. Healthcare institutions are \u2064sounding the alarm, warning that if we \u200ddon&#8217;t take action,\u2063 our healthcare systems could collapse within \u200cthe next 30 years.<\/p>\n<p>In 2021, the World Health Organization identified antimicrobial resistance as\u200c one of the top 10 emerging threats to global health. Despite this, lawmakers in the United States have been unable to pass legislation to \u200btackle this crisis.<\/p>\n<h3>A Bipartisan Solution: The PASTEUR Act<\/h3>\n<p>However, there is hope on the horizon. Sens. Todd Young (R-IN) and \u2063Michael Bennet (D-CO) recently reintroduced a bipartisan bill called the \u200cPASTEUR Act. Health professionals are optimistic that Congress can finally \u2062come\u200c together to address this \u2063pressing\u200c issue.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWe can\u2019t \u200dsit on\u2062 our\u2062 hands and wait for the \u200dnext <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/oregon-governor-encourages-people-to-call-police-on-neighbors-violating-covid-orders\/\" title=\"Oregon Governor Encourages People To Call Police On Neighbors Violating COVID Orders\">public health crisis<\/a> to arrive. It\u2019s time for Congress \u200dto pass the PASTEUR Act,\u201d said Sen. Young.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Mary Dwight, chief policy and advocacy officer at the \u2064Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, \u2064emphasized the urgency of taking action as \u2062soon as possible.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWe are currently in a crisis of enough effective antibiotics that \u2062are available to treat infections that occur\u200d every day\u2064 all across \u2062America, all across the world. We really are\u200b in a \u200dcurrent pandemic of\u200c ineffective \u200bantibiotics,\u201d \u2062she said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Clinicians stress\u2064 the need \u200cfor \u200bthe development of newer \u200bantibiotics to combat emerging, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/5-food-medicines-that-could-quite-possibly-save-your-life\/\" title=\"5 Food-Medicines That Could Quite Possibly Save Your Life\">multi-drug resistant bacteria<\/a>. However, the marketplace for these drugs is unfavorable due to the \u200dnature\u200d of antibiotics.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThe\u2063 more we use an antibiotic, the more likely it is that the infections we&#8217;re treating become resistant to the antibiotic. So,\u2062 it&#8217;s important that we \u200cbe good stewards of those drugs and that we \u200dnot \u2063use the newer \u2064drugs\u2063 as often when an older therapy works. You see how that could be a \u2063disincentive in\u200b the market,\u201d explained Dwight.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3>The PASTEUR Act: A Solution for Antibiotic \u200bRevenue<\/h3>\n<p>The reintroduced bill aims to address the lack of revenue generated by antibiotics. It proposes flat federal subsidies for companies that produce \u200bantibiotics, \u2062regardless of \u200bhow much of the antibiotic is actually purchased.<\/p>\n<p>This bipartisan bill has\u200d been introduced \u2062before but has never\u2063 made it to a floor\u200d vote,\u2063 partly due to its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ca-governor-breaks-his-own-covid-rules-to-eat-fancy-french-food\/\" title=\"Ca. Governor Breaks His Own COVID Rules To Eat Fancy French Food\">high price tag<\/a> of a $6 billion down payment.<\/p>\n<p>However, according to Dwight,\u200c the\u2064 federal government is already spending nearly $4 billion a year to treat six of the most antibiotic-resistant infections. The CDC estimates this cost to be even higher, at $4.6 billion.<\/p>\n<p>As the catalog of antibiotic-resistant infections\u200c continues to grow, so will the cost. In 2017, the WHO\u200c published a list of bacteria for which new antibiotics are \u2062urgently needed, including common infections like staph, salmonella, and gonorrhea.<\/p>\n<h3>Antibiotic \u200bResistance: A \u200cThreat to \u2064All<\/h3>\n<p>Until now, antibiotic resistance has primarily been\u2062 seen as a concern\u200b for people with chronic \u200bdiseases. However, experts warn that this\u2062 perception is incorrect.<\/p>\n<p>Assistant professor of\u200d infectious \u200ddiseases at the Yale School of Medicine, Scott Roberts, stated, \u201cWe&#8217;re seeing over time that it\u200d is spreading outside of that select patient population and becoming more widespread. These infections can spread person to person and impact any one of us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reports of gonorrhea that is only sensitive to one of the last-resort antibiotics, known as carbapenems, have \u200draised concerns. The CDC has also reported a\u200c significant increase in multi-drug resistant strains of shigella, a common food-borne bacteria.<\/p>\n<p>Each year, over 2.8 million Americans \u2064acquire serious infections caused by antibiotic resistance, resulting in 35,000 deaths. The United Nations projects\u200b that antibiotic-resistant infections will cause 10 million global deaths annually by 2050.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cIf you wait till something&#8217;s already a problem, you&#8217;re\u2062 going \u200cto miss a huge catchment of patients who won&#8217;t benefit \u2064from that therapy until it&#8217;s too late,\u201d warned Roberts.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3>Urgent Congressional Intervention<\/h3>\n<p>In an \u2064effort to mitigate this impending crisis,\u200d the Senate recently held a hearing\u2062 on antimicrobial \u200cresistance. Witness\u200c Dr. Helen Boucher, dean and professor of medicine at Tufts University School of \u200bMedicine, emphasized the \u2064need for Congress to intervene before\u200b AMR becomes a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/congress-aims-to-tackle-antibiotics-time-bomb\/\" title=\"Congress targets antibiotic crisis\">full-fledged public health\u200c emergency<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThis is \u2063a game where there needs to\u200d be\u2062 planning in \u200badvance for the threats we know \u200cand some we don\u2019t know,\u201d said Dr. Boucher.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Clinicians are calling for the\u2063 development \u200cof more \u2064antibiotics to\u2064 combat emerging threats. However, the resources currently available are insufficient.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, out of the 12 antibiotics companies that have gone \u200bpublic \u2064in the past 10\u2064 years, only five are still active today. In\u2063 2019, two \u2064drug makers filed \u200dfor\u2063 bankruptcy\u2063 shortly after releasing FDA-approved antibiotics.<\/p>\n<p>The need\u200c to address antibiotic resistance is\u200b urgent. The PASTEUR Act presents an opportunity\u200c for Congress \u2064to take decisive action \u2064and protect the future of healthcare.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Click here to read more from The Washington Examiner.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2021, the World Health Organization listed antimicrobial resistance as a top 10 global health threat. Healthcare institutions warn that if action is not taken, antibiotic resistance could cause healthcare systems worldwide to collapse in 30 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1988605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1988604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1988604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1988604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1988604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1988605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1988604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1988604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1988604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}