APUA in the News
2018: APUA has joined multiple healthcare-associated groups in lending its support to House Bill HR 6294, introduced by Rep Shimkus (R-IL) on June 28, 2018. The letter, directed to the Committee on Energy & Commerce, expressed support for REVAMP: Re-Valuing Antimicrobial Products Act of 2018. It expressed the signees’ deep concern for the serious threat of antimicrobial resistance, the insufficient number of defenses to combat the threat, and the great concern over the potential for weaponizing antibiotic-resistant pathogens for bioterrorism.
2018: As a member of the Stakeholder Forum on Antimicrobial resistance (S-FAR), APUA has lent its signature of support to letters directed to three new U.S. health care executives: Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar; Centers for Disease Control Director, Robert Redfield; and Assistant Secretary for Health Bret Giroir. The letters then urge strong support for the initiatives laid out by the CDC and for strengthening collaborations with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to implement antimicrobial stewardship programs, to support hospital surveillance systems that remain quite weak, and to drive innovation in antibiotic development.
2018: APUA joined over 80 other stakeholders-- including U.S. PIRG, the National Resources Defense Council, Consumer’s Union, Friends of the Earth Food Animal Concerns Trust and Center for Food Safety-- in signing a letter asking McDonald’s to commit to a timebound policy to eliminate serving any meat raised with the routine use of antibiotics
2018: APUA joined multiple stakeholder organisations in signing on to an informational letter of support addressed to Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH). The letter strongly advocated the submission of the STAAR ACT (Strategies of Address Antimicrobial Resistance) which was reintroduced by Senator Brown.
2017: APUA’s 2014 Leadership Award winner turns spotlight on the search for natural antimicrobials. Public health journalist and author Maryn McKenna is featured in the July/August issue of The Atlantic with an article titled Hunting for Antibiotics in the World’s Dirtiest Places. McKenna chronicles the history of the search for new antimicrobials and details the sleuthing efforts of contemporary scientist Adam Roberts of London.
2017: The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) has released its final publication, The Faces of Antibiotic Resistance—a project that presents the personal stories of patients or family members who have had first-hand experience with a resistant infection such as MRSA, CRE, and C. diff, among others. As a member of IDSA’s U.S. Stakeholder Forum on Antimicrobial Resistance (S-FAR), APUA participated in the project with financial support, and by serving as a vehicle to solicit the stories that were assembled for publication.
2017: APUA has joined over 100 other stakeholders in signing a letter to President Trump that requests maintenance of a strong public health workforce capacity. The letter was issued in response to the current hiring freeze on federal jobs issued in January.
2017: As a member of S-FAR (the U.S. Stakeholder Forum on Antimicrobial Resistance), convened by the Infectious Diseases Society of America, APUA has signed on to a group letter to WHO leaders António Guterres and Margaret Chan. The letter expresses a desire to see continued progress on the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) problem subsequent to the UN high level General Assembly in September 2016.
2017: APUA joins consulting team for The New England Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (NE QIN-QIO). NE QIN-QIO is a collaborative effort between Healthcentric Advisors and Qualidigm that serves as a centralized resource for knowledge to help providers improve care for Medicare beneficiaries, their families and caregivers across New England.
2017: APUA Leadership Award winner, Maryn McKenna, releases a new book. Big Chicken documents how we came to give antibiotics routinely to most of the meat animals on the planet. Maryn McKenna’s TED Talk, “What do we do when anti-biotics don’t work any more?” has been viewed more than 1.5 million times.
2017: President Levy informs Technoskeptic and Smithsonian articles on triclosan and fish antibiotics.
1/26/2016: Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics Voices Support for Global Industry Declaration Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance
12/9/2015: Boston University Law Professor Kevin Outterson Hailed as Leader in Global Effort to Contain Antibiotic Resistance
9/3/2015: APUA and Clorox Healthcare announce a partnership to raise awareness on the link between antimicrobial stewardship, environmental hygiene and infection control practices.
6/25/2015: APUA announces Honor Roll companies recognized for their antibiotic stewardship. The Honorees are:
McDonald's
Perdue Farms
Smithfield Foods
Costco
Tyson Foods
"Through their leadership and best practices, these companies strive for healthful quality and assert pressure on the food animal industry to stop overusing antibiotics for non-therapeutic purposes and growth promotion," said APUA President Dr. Stuart Levy.
6/2/2015: Dr. Levy participated in the first ever White House Forum on Antibiotic Stewardship
3/26-3/28/2015: Dr. Levy presents a short talk at the 6th Annual CUGH Conference that took place in Boston
3/10/2015: Barbara Lapinskas and Jane Kramer represented APUA at the BAARN Conference at the Broad Institute, MIT
9/5-9/9/2014: Thank you to Dr. Levy, Chris Logan, Kathy Young, and Arnold Reinhold for supporting our APUA booth at ICAAC this weekend
9/4/2014: APUA has signed onto S-FAR's stewardship proposal: IDSA Convenes New National Stakeholder Group on Antimicrobial Resistance; Calls for Comprehensive and Coordinated U.S. Strategy
6/30/2014: APUA's advocacy and resources contributed to the FDA's its first biannual report on its progress toward implementation of Guidance #213.
5/28/2014: APUA is listed among 16 Organizations Working to Raise Antibiotic Resistance Awareness
5/21/2014: APUA is mentioned for it's contribution to Alere's launch of the Test Target Treat Initiative to fight antibiotic resistance
5/9/2014: Dr. Stuart Levy participated on a panel for NPR's show On Point with Tome Ashbrook discussing the recent WHO AMR Report from 10-11am5/6/2014: Sara Readon's Nature article "Antibiotic resistance sweeping developing world"quotes APUA President Dr. Stuart Levy
5/4/2014: President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) is preparing a major report on antimicrobial resistance.
4/30/2014: APUA representatives, Dr. Stuart Levy and Kathleen Young served on the panel of reviewers of the WHO report, “Antimicrobial resistance: global report on surveillance”
4/30/2014: Nature supplement on antibiotic resistance interviews Dr. Levy in "Public Health: The Politics of Antibiotics"; key to reducing antibiotic use by 50% is better diagnostics
4/30/2014: APUA President Dr. Stuart Levy cautions the use of antibiotics to treat malnourished children after study in Malawi finds successful treatment of malnutrition with amoxicillin4/16/14: APUA was cited on the cover of April's Managed Care magazine regarding the cost of antibiotic resistance
4/10/14: An Interview with Dr. Sturat Levy, APUA President
2/28/2014: An article in Women's Health Magazine, "What If Antibiotics Stopped Working?" quoted Dr. Levy: "It's a societal problem," says APUA President Dr. Stuart Levy, speaking of antibiotic resistance. "One person's use—or abuse—of an antibiotic could be another person's demise."
2/25/2014: APUA announced its first Honor Roll of companies that responsibly limit antibiotic use in food products. The chosen companies are:
Applegate
Bell & Evans
Chipotle
Coleman Natural
Heritage Acres Foods
Niman Ranch
Panera Bread
Sweetgreen
Whole Foods
"Through their leadership and best practices, these companies strive for healthful quality and assert pressure on the food animal industry to stop overusing antibiotics for non-therapeutic purposes and growth promotion," said APUA President Dr. Stuart Levy.
2/2/2014: Dr. Levy was interviewed by the radio program "Sound Medicine" at Indiana University on the FDA's new plan to phase out the use of antibiotics in food animals. Listen to the recording here.
12/16/2013 - 12/17/2013: Many news outlets consulted APUA and Dr. Levy on the new FDA requirements on antibacterial products going forward: See The New York Times,Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, NBC News, and abc News.
Dr. Stuart Levy:
"The FDA is finally making a judgment call here and asking industry to show us that these products are better than soap and water, and the data don't substantiate that."
“I think they’re ready to take on hard issues that they did not before.”
"This has been on the agenda for a number of years, and finally we are hearing from the FDA that they are in line with what was recommended by experts to their advisory board several years ago."
“It’s an issue that’s been brewing since the mid-1990s. We’ve been testifying against these products and waiting for the FDA to do something.”
12/12/2013: Marketplace interviewed Dr. Levy for their story "Will Farmers Feed Their Livestock Fewer Antibiotics?"
“Seventy percent of all antibiotics produced in this country, by weight, go to animals,' says Stuart Levy, a professor at Tufts University and president of the Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics. He says almost all of those are feed additives. 'Do we need all this antibiotic usage?' he asks. 'The answer is no.”
12/12/2013: The Weather Channel interviewed Dr. Levy for their article "FDA Plan to Lessen Antibiotics in Food Overdue, Scientists Say."
12/11/2013: The New York Times interviewed Dr. Levy for their article on the new FDA guidelines for antibiotic use in food animals.
"Longtime critic of the F.D.A. on antibiotics, Dr. Stuart B. Levy, a professor of microbiology at Tufts University and the president of the Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics, praised the new rules. He was among the first to identify the problem in the 1970s. 'I’m kind of happy,' he said. 'For all of us who’ve been struggling with this issue, this is the biggest step that’s been taken in the last 30 years.
08/13/2013: Dr. Levy video recorded for a "Science for the Public" Spotlight at Tufts School of Medicine. Available here.
7/8/2013: Dr. Levy interviewed in a WBUR article describing new research that examines antibiotics damaging cells.
In a study published in Science Translational Medicine, James J. Collins, a B.U. biomedical engineer, says his research in mice suggests that certain antibiotics, taken long-term, could be damaging our own cells. Dr. Levy comments on the role of bacteriocidal antibiotics and the need for further research.
7/2/2013: APUA is mentioned in The Preventing Antibiotic Resistant Act 2013 as mentioned in a Yahoo! article about antibiotics in the meat industry.
“In 2009, Cook County Hospital and the Alliance for Prudent Use of Antibiotics estimated that the total health care cost of antibiotic resistant infections in the United States was between $16,600,000,000 and $26,000,000,000 annually,” according to the bill.
6/20/2013: The APUA Nutrition Group's letter to the editor "Antibiotics for Uncomplicated Severe Malnutrition" (cautioning the overuse and misuse of antibiotics in treating severe malnutrition in resource-limited settings) published in the Correspondence section of the New England Journal of Medicine. Click here to view the press release.
5/13/2013: Dr. Levy interviewed in PBS Frontline about the controversy of antibiotic use in food animals.
4/22/2013: APUA is mentioned in a Yahoo! article about the causes of antibiotic resistance, including the overprescription of unnecessary antibiotics.
3/29/2013: APUA comments on the importance of hygiene to combat antibiotic resistance in "Patient Safety". Other articles in the USA Today supplement advocate for patients to become a more well-informed consumer when it comes to their own healthcare and safety.
2/11/2013: Dr. Stuart Levy (APUA President) comments on China's overuse of antibiotics in livestock and how such use may harm human health.
11/14/2012: Along with other leading international health care organizations, Stuart Levy (APUA President) signs letter to the Financial Times advocating for new antibiotic development as well as strong antibiotic stewardship of existing antibiotics.
9/28/2012: The article by Katharine Greider appears in the October issue of the AARPand can be viewed online on the AARP website. The author elaborates on how the misuse of antibiotics in humans leads to resistance and Dr Stuart Levy's advice is quoted, "You don't want to take antibiotics without a physician's advice. Don't stockpile them. Don't beg for them. You don't take antibiotics for the common cold." The article also points out the problems associated with overuse of antibiotics in food production. Dr Levy is quoted once more, "Resistance is produced and amplified by the misuse of antibiotics. There are lives being lost. And the solution is to get... antibiotics out of the environment as best we can."
6/20/2012: Kevin Outterson's (J.D., Health Law Program of Boston University) article in the APUA Clinical Newsletter Vol.30No.1 cited in world report "Europe to boost development of new antimicrobial drugs" in June 16 issue of The Lancet
3/7/2012: Dr. Stuart Levy (APUA President) cited in Boston Globe article "Massachusetts teams help reduce spread of often fatal germ" about APUA and CDC efforts to fight incidence of C. difficile infections in hospitals through the CDC Vital Signs campaign
1/25/2012: Dr. Stuart Levy's (APUA President) letter to the editor "Antibiotics in animals"(applauding the FDA ban on cephalosporin use in food animals) published in the Opinion section of the New York Times
1/4/2012: Kathleen Young (APUA Executive Director) gives antibiotic use statistics in an article in Bloomberg News, "Antibiotic use restricted by U.S. in livestock and poultry"
11/18/2011: Dr. Stuart Levy (APUA President) and Bonnie Marshall's (APUA Staff Scientist) article "Food animals and antimicrobials: impacts on human health" published in October 2011 issue of Clinical Microbiology Reviews
10/17/2011: APUA recognizes ESCMID and the APUA-Nepal chapter for their invaluable work in controlling resistance and improving treatment
6/2/2011: Carol Cogliani (APUA Program Manager) co-authors article "Restricting antimicrobial use in food animals: lessons from Europe - banning nonessential antibiotic uses in food animals is intended to reduce pools of resistance genes" published in June 2011 issue of Microbe
5/20/11: Dr. Stuart Levy (APUA President) and Bonnie Marshall's (APUA Staff Scientist) article "Don't share that clarinet: bacteria can linger on woodwind instruments for days"published in the May 2011 web issue of Science News
5/8/11: Dr. Stuart Levy (APUA President) receives Hamao Umezawa Award from the ISC at this year's European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
4/11/11: Dr. Tom O'Brien (APUA Vice President) and Dr. John Stelling's (Co-director of WHO Collaborating Centre for Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance) article,"Integrated multilevel surveillance of the world's infecting microbes and their resistance to antimicrobial agents" published in April 2011 issue of Clinical Microbiology Reviews
4/7/11: "To save antibiotics, make them a separate class of drugs" an APUA press release in conjunction with World Health Day
3/31/11: APUA and Cook County Hospital study on the cost of resistance cited in an article in The Economist, "The spread of superbugs: what can be done about the rising risk of antibiotic resistance?"
2/21/11: "Harvard Vanguard pushing for judicious antibiotic use" as reported by theMedford Transcript
1/10/11: Dr. Stuart Levy (APUA President) profiled in an interview with the Boston Globe,"A leader of the resistance"
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