Roskam Praises PCAST Report on Antibiotic Resistance

WASHINGTON, DC—Congressman Peter Roskam (IL-06) released the following statement after the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) released their highly anticipated report on Antibiotic Resistance:

“Today’s PCAST report adds to the growing chorus of voices calling for swift action to prevent the threat of widespread antibiotic resistance.  I deeply appreciate the hard work of all those involved in shaping this report and its thoughtful recommendations.   The rapid increase in antibiotic resistance, coupled with the lack of drug treatments currently available or in development increases the risk of global pandemic.  The broken antibiotics market has been the central impediment to new drug investment, and PCAST rightly identifies the need for significant incentives to lure companies back into antibiotic drug development. 

“In April, I joined Congressman Danny Davis to introduce the DISARM Act, legislation that seeks to spur drug development by updating how our healthcare system views antibiotics.  DISARM adds a new classification for the high-powered antibiotics that treat superbugs, modernizing how Medicare views these important drugs.  Once Medicare begins reimbursing hospitals for these select drugs at cost, we can ensure a functioning market for their use, bring companies back into the antibiotics field and reinvigorate the pipeline of new antibiotics.

“A great deal of credit belongs to Dr. Tom Frieden, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who jumpstarted the discussion of antibiotic resistance after the landmark 2013 CDC Threat Report that put superbugs on everyone’s radar.  Thanks to his diligence, the conversation about drug-resistant infections has advanced from an obscure, faraway issue to one where the superbug threat is serious, urgent and in need of swift action.”

The Roskam-Davis DISARM Act addresses each of the four “core actions” identified in a November 2013 report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as critical to combating the looming healthcare crisis of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and reducing preventable deaths, including preventing infections and the spread of resistant bacteria, better tracking of resistance and antibiotic use, improved use of antibiotics, and the development of new antibiotics to treat resistant infections.

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