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The partial government shutdown of 2013, now in its third day, has not yet affected the everyday practice of medicine, but it has begun to gnaw away at the nation's public health infrastructure, and that's worrisome, say leaders of organized medicine.
Case in point: Right at the onset of the 2013–2014 influenza season, the shutdown caused the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to furlough employees who run its seasonal flu program, which detects outbreaks, identifies virus strains, and tracks flu-related illness and mortality. As a result, physicians will battle influenza without the program's intelligence, at least for now.
"It's a shame," said Charles Cutler, MD, who chairs the Board of Regents of the American College of Physicians (ACP). "It's worse than a shame. It's a disgrace.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/812056
(free registration required)
Case in point: Right at the onset of the 2013–2014 influenza season, the shutdown caused the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to furlough employees who run its seasonal flu program, which detects outbreaks, identifies virus strains, and tracks flu-related illness and mortality. As a result, physicians will battle influenza without the program's intelligence, at least for now.
"It's a shame," said Charles Cutler, MD, who chairs the Board of Regents of the American College of Physicians (ACP). "It's worse than a shame. It's a disgrace.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/812056
(free registration required)