Washington, D.C. — Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA) delivered the following opening remarks during today’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee hearing titled “Antimicrobial Resistance: Examining an Emerging Public Health Threat.”

Excerpts and highlights below:

THE DANGERS OF AMR

“Welcome everyone to what I hope will be a productive, fact-finding hearing on a subject I have long been interested in—Antimicrobial Resistance, or AMR.

“We heard in yesterday’s hearing that the risk of a pathogen escaping from a lab and causing a pandemic is very real.

“Just as real is the threat posed by antimicrobial resistant pathogens.

“Prior to the discovery of penicillin, significant research was being done on phage therapy. Phage therapy is where we search for a virus to attack harmful bacteria and/or microbes.

“Ever since the discovery of penicillin, antibiotics have been developed to treat previously untreatable infections—and they truly are life savers.

“But unfortunately, as the development of antibiotics took off, attention to phage therapy fell to the wayside.

“The problem is, over time, pathogens become resistant to the commandeered classes of antibiotics.

“Accordingly, if a new way to kill the pathogen is not found, the patient is defenseless to the disease caused by the pathogen.

“As it stands right now, antibiotic resistance infections can be extremely difficult to treat.”

GATHERING MORE INFORMATION AND FACT-FINDING ON AMR

“Despite the increased demand, there has been a significant reduction in investment and development of new antimicrobials.

“According to data, since 1990, 78% of major drug companies have cut or scaled back antibiotic research due to development challenges.

“According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 2.8 million people are infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the United States each year, and more than 35,000 people die as a result.

“The rise of drug-resistant infections places a heavy burden on our nation’s health care system.

“The CDC suggests that approximately 30% of all antibiotics prescribed in the US are for infections that do not necessarily require antibiotics, which amounts to about 47 million antibiotic courses prescribed in these settings each year.

“That said, often what happens is individual doctors, faced with perplexing symptoms while trying to save their patients, will understandably use antibiotics.

“I look forward to hearing from our witnesses about potential, innovative solutions like phage therapy.

“I expect we will also hear today from the GAO about deficiencies at the Department of Health and Human Services, the agency with the most responsibility for tackling the AMR problem than any other agency.

“While there is no easy solution to the problem of AMR, we are committed to exploring potential solutions to address this public health crisis.

“I want to emphasize that this hearing is not about taking a position on any legislation introduced, but rather to gather information and fact-find.

“Our goal today is to examine the AMR problem, assess the role of the federal government, and explore potential solutions.”