Proposed New Medicare Regulation Limits Antibiotic Based on Guidelines That Ration Care, Warns the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS)

TUCSON, Ariz., Aug. 15, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Politically unaccountable groups, having their own agendas, should not be dictating the practice of medicine in the form of guidelines to be required by Medicare, states the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) in comments it submitted on Saturday to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on its proposed new regulation.

The public may comment on this proposed new regulation through Monday, Aug 15, and many patients should if they want to preserve their access to life-saving antibiotics. The proposed regulation would limit the use of antibiotics by physicians and hospitals to prevent disease, deadly and otherwise.

This proposed new rule is CMS-3295-P, innocently entitled "Medicare and Medicaid Programs: Hospital and Critical Access Hospital Changes to Promote Innovation, Flexibility, and Improvement in Patient Care." What this new rule would really do is ration and withhold the use of antibiotics for the tens of millions of patients who are admitted to hospitals.

AAPS strongly objects to how this proposed rule "attempts to subject Medicare recipients to guidelines controlled by private, unaccountable organizations. Medicare is a taxpayer-funded program, and participation in Medicare should not depend on compliance with guidelines set by private organizations having their own hidden agendas and undisclosed conflicts-of-interest, and which lack any political accountability."

AAPS executive director Jane M. Orient, M.D., observes that "private standard-setting organizations should not be granted the authority of federal law through the back door of regulations promulgated under the Medicare program. Patients should be treated until they are restored to good health, and not face premature termination of antibiotic use based on private guidelines developed for the benefit of payers."

Dr. Orient points out that "patients could suffer immense harm, and physicians could bear needless liability, if there were a recrudescence in post-surgery infections and other severe conditions."

The proposed regulation makes reference to "nationally recognized guidelines" a remarkable twenty-one (21) times, and expressly requires adherence to such unspecified privately developed guidelines. AAPS strongly objects to this reliance on privately controlled guidelines as a condition for participation in the Medicare program.

The proposed regulation could result in the elimination of 47 million antibiotic prescriptions that medical "experts" deem "unnecessary," AAPS points out in its submitted comments opposing the regulation. Unfortunately, the withholding of such antibiotics from you or a loved one could result in unnecessary illness, or even death.

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) is a national organization representing physicians in virtually all specialties and every state. Founded in 1943, AAPS has the motto "omnia pro aegroto," which means "all for the patient."

SOURCE Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS)

Related Links

http://www.aapsonline.org