Threat of Drug-Resistant Bacteria Will Grow Unless Congress Steps In, Experts Say

The increasing public health threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is already putting vulnerable patients at risk, but Congress could step in to help, experts say.
Testifying on July 11 before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, Christine Ann Miller, the president and CEO of Melinta Therapeutics, noted that AMR is a very current concern.
“In the United States, AMR is the third-leading cause of death behind heart disease and cancer,” said Ms. Miller, whose company develops novel antibiotics to treat antibiotic-resistant infections.
“Things have gotten worse since the pandemic in 2020. Hospital-acquired, drug-resistant infections and deaths jumped 15 percent as COVID erased years of progress in the fight against superbugs,” or bacteria that have become resistant to antibiotics….}