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Consumers Union Campaign Mounted to Stop Hospital Superbug
Consumers Union (CU), the nationally based, independent advocacy group, whose mission is to work for a fair, just, and safe marketplace for all consumers, has launched a campaign to fight the deadly MRSA “superbug”. The Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) a strain of bacteria resistant to most antibiotics has been linked to deadly infections in hospitals around the world. Discovered first in Great Britain in 1961, the MRSA is most likely to strike elderly or seriously ill patients subject to long-term hospital care. Among these patients it is so deadly that has been held to increase a patient’s risk of death five times over. But even healthy patients have been known contract this virulent infection. CU is fresh from its latest big victory in the field of healthcare. Congress recently voted to enact legislation promoted by CU that will allow Medicare to negotiate lower prices for its prescription drugs. The Consumers Union is now calling on public supporters to contact state governors in a nationwide campaign to stop the MRSA epidemic. Spawning infections that have been incurable in many cases, CU notes that an estimated 17,000 people die each year from MRSA. Hospital patients with MRSA typically stay far longer in the hospital, and driving up the costs of healthcare for patients and the public. People who develop them while in the hospital often suffer for years with additional hospitalizations and surgeries. According to the Consumers Union, hospitals can do more to stop this “super bug” by prioritizing infection prevention. Action by state governors can help to develop strong incentive programs to carry this out. In the last two years: 42 states have considered bills, 16 states have passed hospital infection public reporting laws, and now we need to focus on MRSA. CU is calling on their supports to write letters to their state governors, calling for support for such legislation. While some U.S. hospitals have implemented effective strategies to curb MRSA, most hospitals have not, according to the Consumers Union. But CU hopes they will in a strong campaign of public advocacy is mounted. With an effective campaign organized in North Carolina, state health department officials can assess each hospital's prevention program and then let the public know which hospitals are taking this deadly epidemic seriously. CU, a nonprofit organization, publishes Consumer Reports and ConsumerReports.org in addition to two newsletters, Consumer Reports on Health and Consumer Reports Money Adviser with combined subscriptions of more than 7 million. You can find out more about CU’s MRSA campaign by visiting their webpage at http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/.
To participate directly in this campaign for public comment, go to:
Since its founding in 1936, Consumers Union has never taken any advertising or freebies of any kind. The organization generates more than $160 million in revenue and a staff of more than 500 work at either CU's 50 state-of-the-art labs in Yonkers, NY; its 327-acre auto test facility in East Haddam, CT.; or the three advocacy offices in Washington DC, Austin, TX, and San Francisco, CA.
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Carolina Civic Voice Winter 2006-07 Vol. 6, No 4 |