Atlanta Legal Nurse Consultant Checks Out "Superbug" Discussion At The University Of Georgia

Atlanta, Georgia – Atlanta legal nurse consultant Liz Buddenhagen, registered nurse, attended a lecture given by Maryn McKenna, medical and science journalist, on August 31, 2010 regarding methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

McKenna first found out about MRSA when she covered the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC) newspaper in 2003 according to the report in the Athens Banner Herald (ABH) newspaper.

“These staph infections have become resilient to many of the antibiotics we use,” she said to the ABH.

McKenna has written a book “Superbug – The Fatal Menace of MRSA” which was available for sale and signing after her lecture. “Medicine disregarded it. Antibiotics can’t control it. MRSA – drug-resistant staph – may be the most frightening epidemic since AIDS,” reads the front cover.

“MRSA is carried by 30% of the United States population and frequently causes mild infections but it becomes virulent when it gets inside the body,” said McKenna. She described three waves of overlapping epidemics of MRSA the first being in hospitals from 1968 on; the second everyday life outside of the hospital from 1998 on and thirdly, in livestock since 2004.

From the discovery of penicillin in 1928 through today, McKenna traced the history of antibiotic use and the emergence of the MRSA globally and noted that in 1945, Alexander Fleming warned of the need to use antibiotics cautiously due to possible development of resistance in his Nobel Prize speech.

Most antibiotic focused companies have withdrawn from the market due to cost and length of time it takes to develop new antibiotics to treat MRSA. Vaccines may provide a reduction per the CDC although it would not be easy to bring to market and there are questions if the public would use the vaccine if they were produced.

The Atlanta legal nurse says: “McKenna gave sage advice regarding personal protection: adequate hand washing for everyone, showers for children, to use antibiotics respectfully, challenge health care workers to improve hand washing and other precautions and to support minimal use of antibiotics in agriculture.”

For more information regarding McKenna’s work view website www.superbugthebook.com and www.superbugtheblog.com.

About Liz Buddenhagen:

The Atlanta legal nurse consultant is a registered nurse and certified legal nurse with a thirty year hospital clinical background, including critical care. Buddenhagen has been assisting Atlanta lawyers with their medically-related cases: “My firm locates expert witnesses, reviews and analyzes medical records, creates timelines, reports and summaries and provides Medicare Set-Aside allocation.” View website at www.Legal-Nurse-Consultant-LNC.com, email at Liz@BuddenhagenLNC.com or call 770-725-2997.

Contact Information

Liz Buddenhagen, RN, CLNC

Principal

Buddenhagen & Associates

Contact via E-mail