British Prime Minister David Cameron Warns of Growing Crisis of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria, But Wound Care Expert Dr. John Crew Points to Possible Solution

DALY CITY, Calif., July 2, 2014

"But the sliver of good news is that we are creating some important new weapons to fight this problem," Dr. Crew added. "Now we need to make sure these new approaches are more widely used."

One of those weapons is a new treatment that Dr. Crew has developed that has proven its effectiveness against deadly necrotizing fasciitis, or flesh-eating disease—even when the disease is triggered by bacteria resistant to common antibiotics. As Dr. Crew has reported in journals like WOUNDS, the approach has so far saved the lives and limbs of every patient treated. That's a dramatic improvement from the normal mortality rate of about 20 percent, with surviving victims usually losing feet, legs, hands, arms or other body parts.

Earlier this year, Dr. Crew was nominated for the Lister Legacy Prize, an award presented by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Scotland to recognize worldwide contributions in controlling infections. As part of the award selection process, Dr. Crew presented his breakthrough technique for treating necrotizing fasciitis at the President's Meeting of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh on March 21, 2014.

Dr. Crew's innovation was irrigating the spreading wounds of necrotizing fasciitis victims with NeutroPhase, a product from NovaBay^® Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE MKT: NBY), a California based biopharmaceutical company. NeutroPhase contains a pure stable version of HOCl (hypochlorous solution), which has been proven in laboratory tests to not only kill bacteria (including antibiotic-resistant strains), but also to neutralize the toxins produced by bacteria. As a result, NeutroPhase stops the runaway tissue damage caused by those toxins. "For years, I could only offer emotional support to those struggling with this devastating disease," said Jacqueline Roemmele, founder of the National Necrotizing Fasciitis Foundation (NNFF). "Now we can offer them real hope."