[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 20]
[House]
[Page 28298]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   PUTTING SUPERBUGS ON THE DEFENSIVE

  (Mr. TIM MURPHY of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TIM MURPHY of Pennsylvania. This Tuesday, a Wall Street Journal 
article written by Theo Francis started off by saying, ``Hospitals are 
prime breeding grounds for antibiotic-resistant `superbugs' that kill 
tens of thousands of Americans each year. But most people have had no 
way of knowing how well their hospital keeps these bacteria--and 
infections in general--under control.''
  Nineteen States have some version of requiring reporting of infection 
rates in hospitals, but there is no overall plan for this, and thus 
there is a great deal of confusion. That is why I introduced H.R. 1174, 
the Healthy Hospitals Act, to help our Nation's citizens understand the 
infection rates in hospitals and get these under control.
  Here are today's sad statistics. So far this year 1.6 million people 
have developed an infection in a hospital. There have been 73,000 
deaths and a cost of over $40 billion. It is time we get these under 
control, and I ask my colleagues to help support by signing on as 
cosponsors of H.R. 1174. Let's stop these deadly diseases that are 
killing so many in our hospitals.

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