Skip to main content

CONGRESSMAN LIEU & CONGRESSMAN ROSKAM REQUEST FURTHER ACTION FROM FDA ON SUPERBUGS

March 6, 2015

WASHINGTON, DC – This week, Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D | CA-33) and Congressman Peter Roskam (R | IL-6) joined with eight additional House colleagues in sending a letter to Commissioner Margaret Hamburg of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking further information and ideas from the FDA on how best to prevent fatal outbreaks of antibiotic resistant bacteria, or superbugs.

In their letter, the lawmakers wrote:

"There have been a disturbing number of fatal outbreaks of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Many of these outbreaks have been linked to the use of contaminated duodenoscopes. An outbreak occurred at the UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center last week, following a string of other recent outbreaks across the country, including cases in Illinois, Washington State, and Pennsylvania. We share the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) interest to effectively prevent the spread of infection, and we respectfully request the Agency's assistance in taking any and all steps that will help society reach that goal. As Members of Congress concerned about these deadly outbreaks, we write to both seek answers from the FDA regarding current and future sanitization protocols, and to create a partnership that works towards finding comprehensive solutions to keep Americans safe from the threat of superbugs."

The most recent superbug outbreak was reported this week at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. This latest incident follows a string of other recent outbreaks across the country, including cases in Illinois, Washington State, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Florida and Pennsylvania.

Full Text of Lieu / Roskam FDA Letter

Issues:Local Issues