{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/newsreleases?ContentRecord_id=681B79C2-9AE7-4706-9E32-46B2450420BF", "SCOPES: Following Investigation into Superbug-Linked Infections in Washington State, Sen. Murray Secures Stronger Oversight for Medical Scopes in Bipartisan Bill", "2016-12-07", "2016", "2016-12", "Democrat", "House", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "An investigation by Sen. Murray into contaminated\u00a0medical scopes at Virginia Mason Medical Center and other hospitals confirmed that these devices were spreading antibiotic-resistant bacteria or \u201csuperbugs\u201d: LINK\r\nPassed today 94-5 by the Senate, the 21st Century Cures Act includes Sen. Murray\u2019s legislation to give the FDA authority to withhold premarket clearance of reusable medical devices, including medical scopes, that fail to meet key standards\r\nBill now headed to President\u2019s desk to be signed into law\u00a0\r\nSen. Murray: We must continue working to combat the alarming rise of drug-resistant infections and to ensure all medical devices that patients need for treatment are safe and effective. \u00a0\r\n(Washington, D.C.) \u2014 Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), the top Democrat on the Senate health committee, applauded the Senate passage of a bipartisan bill, the 21st Century Cures Act, which invests in a wide range of health care priorities, including measures pushed by Senator Murray to help protect patients and families from the growing threat of infection from antibiotic-resistant bacteria or \u201csuperbugs.\u201d\u00a0The Cures Act will provide additional tools to review and ensure the safety of reusable medical devices after a type of medical scope, known as duodenoscopes, were linked to life-threatening, antibiotic-resistant infections at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle and other hospitals across the country.\r\nAn investigation led by Senator Murray into these incidents showed that manufacturers knew the medical scopes could not be reliably cleaned and could present a threat to patients\u2019 lives. The bill includes legislation introduced by Senator Murray to give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clear authority to require that before manufactures go to market with their reusable devices, they must demonstrate that the devices can be reliably decontaminated between uses and remain safe.\u00a0\r\nThe bill also strengthens antimicrobial stewardship activities at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and provides a new pathway to encourage the development of advanced antibacterial and antifungal drugs that can treat serious infections in patients with little or no options, such as those with drug-resistant infections. The Secretary of Health and Human Services will be required to review the overall use of these products, place clear labels and statements on these drugs in order to help ensure physicians use them appropriately, and monitor changes in bacterial resistance.\r\n\u201cSuperbug outbreaks have had tragic impacts on patients and families in my home state and across the country, which is why I made it my priority to ensure the medical devices used on patients are safe and that we encourage the development of more effective antibiotic drugs,\u201d said Senator Murray. \u201cThere is much more work to do to combat the alarming rise of drug-resistant infections, and I hope we can build on this bipartisan bill with additional efforts to ensure we put the health and safety of patients and families first.\u201d\r\nMore on Senator Murray\u2019s work on duodenoscopes in Washington state below and HERE.\r\nFollowing the January 2015 announcement of a tragic outbreak of antibiotic-resistant infections linked to contaminated duodenoscopes at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, Murray called for a full review of FDA practices surrounding duodenoscopes and other medical devices, urged the agency to provide health care professionals with updated guidance, and pressed scope manufacturers linked to the outbreaks for answers and accountability. Following the investigation that highlighted multiple weaknesses in the safety monitoring system for medical devices, Olympus recalled the medical scopes. The FDA then cleared a newly redesigned duodenoscope to improve patient safety.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/newsreleases?ContentRecord_id=681B79C2-9AE7-4706-9E32-46B2450420BF"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 5.824307911098003, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}