Editor’s Note: Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are a public health threat which has previously received insufficient federal attention. See here.
From: Bangor Daily News
By Julie Steenhuysen and Sharon Begley, Reuters
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The White House on Friday told the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to slash rates of infections from antibiotic-resistant bacteria by 2020 as part of a plan to prevent patient deaths and curb overuse of antibiotics administered to humans and animals.
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While the CDC has no regulatory authority, the government’s Medicare and Medicaid health insurance programs require all participating hospitals to develop a stewardship strategy within three years. Failure to do so would disqualify them from the health plans.