Last week, President Obama signed an Executive Order and issued a national strategy to spur action within the federal government to address the public health challenge of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The Order creates a national task force led by the Secretaries of the Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS"), Department of Defense, and Department of Agriculture, charged with submitting a five-year action plan by February 15, 2015. The Order also directed HHS to propose regulations for hospitals to better manage antibiotic use. President Obama also announced a $20 million prize for a diagnostic test that hospitals could use in identifying resistant infections quickly. The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology concurrently issued a report warning that "this brewing problem has become a crisis."
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