John Adler Dead: Former New Jersey Congressman Dies At 51

Former U.S. Congressman John Adler passed away on Monday at the age of 51, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

A Democrat from New Jersey, Adler served one term in the House of Representatives after being elected to office in 2008. He lost his campaign for reelection last fall to former Philadelphia Eagles player and Republican challenger Jon Runyan.

The Inquirer and Courier Post Online report that the former lawmaker passed away in the wake of undergoing emergency heart surgery last month after contracting "staph bacterial endocarditis."

Adler began working for the Greenberg Traurig law firm after falling short in his campaign for reelection, according to NBC Philadelphia. Before being elected to congress, he served as a state senator in the New Jersey legislature.

The AP reports that New Jersey Assembly Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver said, "Congressman Adler was a true example of what it means to serve the people." State Senator Diane Allen said the former legislator's "intellect and energy was a benefit to his constituents and all who had the honor of serving with him."

Adler is survived by his wife Shelley and their four sons.

Comments

[sydneymoon]

06:23 AM on 04/06/2011

Rest in peace. Condolences to his family.

[Jon Bova]

03:52 AM on 04/06/2011

He looks kinda like Steve Buscemi.

[Jack Cox]

02:17 AM on 04/06/2011

Deepest Sympathies.Way too young.

[HUM-V]

09:17 PM on 04/05/2011

I honor his service to our nation.

Deepest Sympathies.

[studmoose]

05:00 PM on 04/05/2011

Funeral Services:
 
Wednesday, April 6th  at  1:30 PM
 
Temple Emmanuel
1101 Springdale Road
Cherry Hill, NJ  08003

[exclintonsupporter]

04:35 PM on 04/05/2011

Very sad...deepest sympathy to his family.

[Patrick Shaw]

04:30 PM on 04/05/2011

Four sons and a loving wife....tragedy....just a tragedy. Lord.

My condolences to those who loved him and those he loved. RIP.

[snippylee]

03:23 PM on 04/05/2011

Sincerest condolescenes to the family. What a joke - health care premimums at an all time high, insurers doing everything they can to deny claims, medicare fraud, infant mortality rate on a par with developing nations, unnecessary c-sections and not enough attention being paid to antibiotic resistant bacterial strains - love the American healthcare system.

[ajbiggs]

03:07 PM on 04/05/2011

RIP

[Cinnamonape]

02:35 PM on 04/05/2011

A tragedy. My  deepest condolences to his wife and children. Too young.

One problem with American healthcare (and not just US...but also in the Third World) is that people who are hospitalized  are often those that already have fairly serious infections by the time they arrive. Because they lack proper medical advice and supervision they mistreat their illness, which has allowed these MRSA-like pathogens to spread. People don't have proper follow-up and thus stop using their antibiotics at the first sign their infection "clears up".  This has allowed the evolution of antibiotic resistant "super-bugs". 

With the cut backs planned by the GOP on the preventative treatment options of "Obamacare", and the massive cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, Family Planning, and other out-patient services to the indigent, elderly and children...people will either start neglecting potentially lethal infections or simply not have the capacity to do anything more than "self-medicate". 

Soon these sorts of pathogens will hit the streets and we'll have an epidemic.

[Lisa Shields]

12:56 PM on 04/05/2011

Perhaps this will help the state pay better attention to the MRSA outbreaks?

What killed him was a particularly virulent form of Staph infection---but NJ does not require Hospitals to report outbreaks, and doesn't monitor same day surgical centers any better.

I acquired MRSA last year after a minor surgery, and it took months to recover.
My best wishes to Adler's family....but truly, this needs attention, not lip service.

[Nancy Lynne Kriescher]

11:09 PM on 04/05/2011

It is so scarey.. Proper procedures not being used.. I read somewhere awhile back.. Staph, Pnemonias. on rise. Mrsa.. We need to know what the Infection rate is at our hospitals, this poor man couldn't catch a break. Angry as Heck I am..

[confuseddemocrat]

12:49 AM on 04/06/2011

I had a similar experience.  I went in for  minor surgery and 2 days later I was in the ICU-cardiac ward fighting for my life because of  a hospital associated infection which spread to the lungs and heart. I was on antibiotics for an entire month and was bedridden for most of the time .

 But I consider myself  lucky because I survived, I did not contract TB which  was spreading through that same hospital and lastly because I had health insurance.

Your are right....Nosocomial infections require more attention  by the federal and state governments 

However since  the current  climate in DC is to cut the budgets of  CDC and the NIH, the major federal units that either study or catalog MRSA, VRSA and other types if outbreaks; I believe we are about to reverse the progress made in combating these Hospital-borne illnesses

[HeadlessHessian]

12:42 PM on 04/05/2011

Way to young.
Rest in Peace.....condolences to the family.

[hk usp 45]

12:11 PM on 04/05/2011

What a sad story.

[ibsteve2u]

11:59 AM on 04/05/2011

'...in the wake of undergoing emergency heart surgery last month after contracting "staph bacterial endocarditis."'

Yeah, best healthcare system in the world...just ask Alder's or Murtha's survivors.

[christopherflynn]

12:21 PM on 04/05/2011

and that's exactly why the healthcare system needs to reformed, bigtime in this country...

[LeftLeanWing]

11:46 AM on 04/05/2011

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_causes_acute_bacterial_endocarditis_staphylococcus_aureus