Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 18–Senators Tiffany, Cegavske, Rawson, Raggio, Neal, Amodei, Care, Carlton, Coffin, Hardy, Mathews, McGinness, Nolan, O’Connell, Rhoads, Schneider, Shaffer, Titus, Townsend, Washington and Wiener

 

March 14, 2003

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Joint Sponsors: Assemblymen Gustavson, Knecht, Angle, Anderson, Andonov, Claborn, Griffin, Hettrick, Horne, Manendo, Pierce, Sherer and Weber

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Read and Adopted

 

SUMMARY—Recognizes Health Division of Department of Human Resources for efforts regarding collection of information concerning sepsis. (BDR R‑354)

 

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EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.

 

Senate Concurrent RESOLUTION—Recognizing the Health Division of the Department of Human Resources for its efforts regarding collection and reporting of information concerning sepsis.

 

1-1  Whereas, Sepsis with acute organ dysfunction, commonly

1-2  referred to as severe sepsis, is the leading cause of death in patients

1-3  in noncoronary intensive care units, with mortality rates ranging

1-4  from 28 to 50 percent or more; and

1-5  Whereas, More than 750,000 Americans develop severe sepsis

1-6  each year, which is an average of more than 2,000 new cases of

1-7  severe sepsis per day solely in the United States; and

1-8  Whereas, The blood pressure of a patient who has severe

1-9  sepsis drops precipitously, which results in shock, and the major

1-10  organs and systems of the patient, including, without limitation, the

1-11  kidneys, liver, lungs and central nervous system, cease to function

1-12  normally; and

2-1  Whereas, A change in a patient’s mental status and

2-2  hyperventilation may be the earliest signs of impending severe

2-3  sepsis; and

2-4  Whereas, The number of cases of severe sepsis is expected to

2-5  increase because of the number of patients with compromised

2-6  immune systems, the use of invasive medical procedures, the

2-7  number of resistant microorganisms and the growth of the elderly

2-8  population; and

2-9  Whereas, There is currently only one drug that has been

2-10  approved by the Federal Drug Administration to treat cases of

2-11  severe sepsis; and

2-12      Whereas, While the drug approved by the Federal Drug

2-13  Administration improves the outcome for many patients with severe

2-14  sepsis, the drug has been underused because of:

2-15      1.  A lack of awareness of the existence of the drug among

2-16  providers of health care and members of the general public; and

2-17      2.  A failure on the part of programs of health insurance to

2-18  reimburse the persons covered by those programs for the costs of the

2-19  drug; and

2-20      Whereas, The science concerning sepsis is better understood as

2-21  the medical community now realizes that sepsis is more than simple

2-22  inflammation in response to bacterial infection and that a patient

2-23  with severe sepsis often exhibits other symptoms in combination

2-24  with systemic inflammation that may lead to the patient’s death; and

2-25      Whereas, Despite this increased understanding, there is a lack

2-26  of centralized information in this state concerning sepsis and severe

2-27  sepsis; and

2-28      Whereas, Because severe sepsis is a fairly common and, if left

2-29  untreated, frequently fatal and expensive disease, a variety of

2-30  educational programs is necessary to reduce the incidence of this

2-31  disease and the number of deaths attributable to the disease in this

2-32  state; and

2-33      Whereas, The Health Division of the Department of Human

2-34  Resources compiles and reports statistical information on hospital

2-35  costs and payor sources for the treatment of cases of severe sepsis,

2-36  and other diagnoses associated with hospitalization and discharge

2-37  status of these patients; and

2-38      Whereas, The Health Division has agreed to submit to the

2-39  Governor and to the Legislature, and post on the Health Division

2-40  website a report that includes statistical information on hospital

2-41  costs and payor sources for the treatment of cases of severe sepsis,

2-42  and other diagnoses associated with hospitalization and discharge

2-43  status; and

2-44      Whereas, To the extent possible, the Health Division has

2-45  agreed to include in these reports data from the International

3-1  Classification of Diseases coding, from the inpatient hospital

3-2  discharge data as well as mortality data from the Health Division;

3-3  and

3-4  Whereas, The information contained in the Health Division’s

3-5  report on sepsis is invaluable in efforts to heighten the awareness of

3-6  severe sepsis in the medical community and will be made available

3-7  for the purposes of research; now, therefore, be it

3-8  Resolved by the Senate of the State of Nevada, the

3-9  Assembly Concurring, That the members of the Nevada

3-10  Legislature hereby recognize the Health Division of the Department

3-11  of Human Resources for its efforts in heightening awareness and

3-12  facilitating research concerning this increasingly fatal disease, and

3-13  urge its continued efforts in this regard; and be it further

3-14      Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate prepare and

3-15  transmit a copy of this resolution to Yvonne Sylva, Administrator of

3-16  the Health Division of the Department of Human Resources.

 

3-17  H