Given the scope of the crisis, lawmakers might have to act, some experts say.
"It's staggering how much MRSA there is, and it's indefensible to not do anything," said Dr. Carlene Muto, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. "Not everyone is going to do it because it's the right thing to do."
New Jersey, New York and the Department of Veterans Affairs recently began requiring hospitals to test patients for MRSA when they're admitted. Pennsylvania and Illinois have begun testing patients considered at high risk of infection, such as those previously hospitalized or cared for in nursing homes. Connecticut has also introduced legislation that would require hospitals to test high-risk patients.
Bennett argues that Maryland should begin requiring hospitals to report MRSA cases to state health authorities and to test high-risk patients. But bills that would have stepped up MRSA surveillance in Maryland's hospitals were killed in the Senate Finance Committee on Feb. 25.
"I'm just shocked, befuddled and dismayed at the duplicity of the health care leadership and how they're responding to this crisis," said Bennett.
According to the Maryland Hospital Association, the legislation was flawed. "It would have taken clinical guidelines and made them into law, and that's never a good idea," said Nancy Fielder, the group's spokeswoman. MHA is planning a series of public forums on MRSA at hospitals around the state this month.
Sen. Lisa A. Gladden, the Baltimore Democrat who sponsored the measures, vowed to introduce them again next year.
"It's clear to me hospitals don't want to be told this is the way to go," she said. "But we'll bring it back until we get a resolution."
State health officials also say that they are taking steps to eradicate MRSA - and that the best safeguards are still evolving.
"The jury is still out on how aggressive the steps to control MRSA have to be," said Dr. Rex Cowdry, executive director of the Maryland Health Care Commission, which regulates hospitals.
The commission plans to require hospitals to screen intensive-care patients for MRSA and track the number of MRSA cases that turn up among surgical patients and those who develop "central line" bloodstream infections, Cowdry said.
