WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Thermo Fisher Scientific applauds the tenacity of the Staunton family, as well as Chairman Tom Harkin and Ranking Member Lamar Alexander, for raising the profile of sepsis education among the public, legislators and other government officials.

This marks the first time that sepsis, a costly and often a deadly medical condition, has been addressed publicly before a full hearing of the U.S. Senate Health Committee. Ciaran Staunton, the co-founder of The Rory Staunton Foundation, will testify about the critical role early identification and awareness of sepsis plays in preventing death. The family has been called to testify after losing their 12-year-old son Rory to the condition in April 2012.

Since his death, the Stauntons have been lobbying for strict hospital regulations and protocols to prevent deaths from sepsis. With the help of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Ciaran Staunton is advocating for “Rory’s Regulations,” a first-in-the-country sepsis reform that is expected to save 5,000 to 8,000 lives in New York annually.

The worldwide number of patients affected by sepsis is estimated to be 20 to 30 million annually and claims more lives than colon and breast cancer combined¹. Despite advances in modern medicine, including antibiotics and vaccines, sepsis remains the primary cause of death from infection with hospital mortality rates between 30 to 60 percent².

“We commend the Staunton family for their dedication and hard work to educate the importance of implementing stricter sepsis protocols for the early identification and treatment of sepsis,” said Marc Tremblay, president, clinical diagnostics, for Thermo Fisher Scientific. “Sepsis is the 10^th leading cause of death in the US,³ with 4,600 people hospitalized per day.⁴ Sepsis also costs an estimated $17 billion dollars annually in the U.S.⁵ Much of this cost is attributed to misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis, making rapid, more reliable detection a national, if not global, imperative.”

“With the help of our license partners, we continue to provide an FDA-approved test for the measurement of Procalcitonin (or PCT), which is a biomarker test used to detect sepsis. In the United States, the PCT test is marketed for use on the first day of ICU admission, in conjunction with other laboratory findings and clinical assessment, to aid in the risk assessment of critically ill patients for progression to severe sepsis and septic shock,” said Tremblay. “Our Procalcitonin assay has been widely adopted in Europe for years and has led to improved hospital management and care of patients with sepsis or at high risk of developing it. Early diagnosis also reduces the economic burden of sepsis. PCT testing supports hospitals in optimizing their service levels and cost effectiveness in today’s challenging economic environment.”

The United States Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing will be held at 10 a.m. at 430 Dirksen Senate Office Building. If you are unable to attend, the hearing will be webcast live at http://help.senate.gov. The @AboutSepsis Twitter handle will be live tweeting updates from the event.

References:

[1] www.world-sepsis-day.org.
[2] Angus DC, Linde-Zwirble WT; Crit Care Med. 2001 Jul;29(7):1303-10.
[3] Melamed A, et al., The burden of sepsis-associated mortality in the United States from 1999 to 2005: an analysis of multiple-cause –of –death data Critical Care 2009, 13:R28 (doi:10.11cc7733)., http://ccforum.com/content/13/1/R28
[4] Elixhauser A, et al., Septicemia in U.S. Hospitals, 2009. HCUP Statistical Brief #122, October 2011, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD., http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/statbriefs/sb122.pdf
[5] Wood KA, Angus DC. Pharmacoeconomic implications of new therapies in sepsis. PharmacoEconomics. 2004;22(14):895-906.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

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