Mike Hennessy Sr

My hope is that years from now, when we look back on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, it will have served a few purposes. First and foremost, COVID-19 highlights the unimaginable bravery and heroism of our frontline health care workers, for whom we are eternally grateful. 

Second, it inspires a renewed appreciation and gratitude for infection prevention and control professionals, as well as infectious disease clinicians. These specialists are likely to be in high demand as health care facilities, ranging from acute-care hospitals to long-term care, navigate a new normal and reevaluate their standards of disinfection, sterile processing, and hand hygiene protocols. 

Lastly, COVID-19 will have long-lasting and perhaps permanent effects on the health care system as a whole: no more crowded physician office waiting rooms, an increased emphasis and reliance on telemedicine, and perhaps a change in the way we consume scientific literature, to name a few. 

 this month on page 14, by Carly Sedlock, MD, and 

 Editor-in-Chief Jason C. Gallagher, PharmD, FCCP, FIDP, FIDSA, BCPS, details Temple University Hospital’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a model that other health care systems may be able to adapt and follow for future outbreaks of infectious diseases. 

Also in this issue you’ll find a recap of our recent 

 titled, “What Clinicians Need to Know About COVID-19,” featuring Tufts Medical Center’s Helen Boucher, MD, FACP, FIDSA; Emory University’s Carlos del Rio, MD; and Stanford University’s Stanley Deresinski, MD. It is through educational offerings such as this that we remain committed to serving as a resource for our audience of infectious disease clinicians. 

Please contact Editorial Director Alexandra Ward, MA, at award@mjhlifesciences.com if you have any questions or comments. 

Stay informed, stay well, and thank you for reading. 

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My hope is that years from now, when we look back on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, it will have served a few purposes.

The Future of Health Care After COVID-19

At MJH Associates, Inc, one of our key tenets is to cut down on bureaucracy. This means that every associate, no matter their position, has access to senior leadership. This “open door” policy was implemented to reduce the time employees spend waiting for approvals, feedback, and suggestions, ensuring that they can continue the innovative work that we do to achieve our mission: improving quality of life through health care research, education, and communications.

US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, is enforcing a similar tactic. In January, Dr. Gottlieb began cutting the red tape when he announced the launch of a pilot program evaluating how information on drugs in development is released to health care, scientific, and patient communities. In a statement, he said that the FDA is committed to “enhancing transparency about the work we do, especially when it has the potential to foster further research and discovery across the scientific community, and better inform patients and providers.”

Dr. Gottlieb’s recent move throws his support behind President Trump’s new plan, American Patients First, which aims to lower drug prices by focusing on increasing transparency and competition and dismantling what Time describes as “the convoluted system of rebates between drugmakers and the health care middlemen known as pharmacy benefit managers.”

 The FDA commissioner applauded the president for “introducing a bold plan that puts patients first in advancing actions to address the rising list prices of prescription medicines.” He also reinforced the agency’s commitment to removing barriers faced by generic drug developers to encourage competition to lower drug prices and increase access to these medications through the Drug Competition Action Plan.

At MJH, we will continue to do the same, eliminating inefficiencies and hype to deliver the most timely and relevant information directly to you, the provider, and your patients through publications such as 

 and its website (contagionlive.com) and social media channels (

). Ultimately, we share the same goal—improving patient outcomes. Together, let’s commit to cutting the fat and making a difference.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., on new steps FDA is taking to enhance transparency of clinical trial information to support innovation and scientific inquiry related to new drugs [press release]. Silver Spring, MD: Food and Drug Administration; January 16 2018. 

fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm592566.htm

Perone M, Colvin J. President Trump’s plan to lower drug prices spares pharma industry. Time website. 

time.com/5275168/trump-plan-lower-drug-prices/

. Published May 12, 2018. Accessed May 23, 2018.

Statement from FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., on the Trump administration’s plan to lower drug prices. Silver Spring, MD: Food and Drug Administration; May 11, 2018. 

fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm607495.htm

MJH Associates, Inc & the FDA are both committed to eliminating inefficiencies and hype to deliver the most timely and relevant information to health care providers.

Cutting the Drug Development Red Tape

Antibiotic resistance continues to grow, and it’s plaguing health care providers and patients alike. Despite initiatives from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Antibiotic Resistance Solutions Initiative,

 and the commitment of multiple organizations to the World Health Organization’s Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System to assemble data on antimicrobial resistance around the world, a startling 2 million individuals become infected with resistant bacteria and 23,000 die from resistant infections each year.

 New antibiotics are continually being developed, but only a handful of those pipeline therapies are reported to be effective against resistant priority pathogens.

 As fast as new antibiotics are being developed, bacteria are evolving even faster, and infections that were once treatable are quickly on their way to becoming incurable.

It should come as no surprise, then, that many of the articles in this issue focus on the problem of antimicrobial resistance. Health care providers are now faced with these once-rare infections every day—they must be equipped with best practices on how to handle them. From “

Treatment Options to Address the Threat of Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae

Long-Acting Anti-MRSA Agents: One Dose to Cure?

”, the expert contributions in this issue provide timely and relevant information to help providers battle these superbugs.

Furthermore, with organizations such as the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy in Washington, DC, purporting that by the year 2030, antibiotic consumption will increase by as much as 200% if health care providers keep moving forward with their current prescribing practices,

 we need to ensure that all members of the health care team, such as 

nurses, are actively involved in stewardship

. The war on antimicrobial resistance will not be won alone, but with the commitment of every player in the game, we might just live to fight another day.

I trust you will learn from the expert-contributed reporting, built on smart insights and in-depth stories, in this magazine. I also recommend you visit our website, 

, for real-time updates on the shifts rippling through the world of infectious disease.

Antibiotic resistance continues to grow, and it’s plaguing health care providers and patients alike.

Mike Hennessy Sr

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