WA docs oppose MRSA bill

About a month ago, we wrote about a bill making its way through the Washington state legislature that would require physicians to screen vulnerable patients for the superbug methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The bill has run into some opposition from the Washington State Medical Association, which doesn’t like the idea of legislation dictating how they provide patient care. 

Bill sponsor state Rep. Tom Campbell (R) told the Seattle Times that the healthcare system has failed to protect patients from MRSA. The legislation would require hospitals to screen surgical patients and those admitted to intensive care units (ICU). The bill was introduced after a Times report found that the annual number of hospitalized Washington patients with MRSA infections grew from 141 a decade ago to 4,723.

In the last two years, California, Illinois, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania have passed laws requiring similar patient screening for MRSA.

Many Washington doctors and some hospital administrators argue that there isn’t a consensus that widespread screening is the answer to the MRSA problem. The Washington State Hospital Association doesn’t oppose the bill, but it is concerned that the bill may require hospitals to isolate patients with MRSA infections. There aren’t enough private rooms to isolate every infected patient, a hospital association spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, a separate bill introduced by state Sen. Karen Keiser is approaching ratification. Keiser’s bill would require hospitals to conduct periodic and limited MRSA screening within ICUs to check for problems. The Times reports that the state medical association also opposes the second bill.