Did you know?

• Infections contracted in hospitals are the fourth largest killer in the United States, causing as many deaths as AIDS, breast cancer and auto accidents combined. One out of every twenty hospital patients gets an infection. That's two million Americans a year, and an estimated 103,000 of them die.
• Hospital infections add $28 billion to $30 billion to the nation's health costs each year. For example, a serious bloodstream infection increases a hospital stay by eleven extra days and adds, on average, $57,000 to a patient's hospital bill. Conversely, effective prevention can make hospitals more profitable.
• Many hospital infections are preventable. Experience proves it. Improvements in intravenous catheter use, compliance with pre-surgical best practices, and better hygiene procedures-what most people assume hospitals require all the time-protect patients from infection.

   Dr. Betsy McCaughey is a health policy expert who has won many prizes for her writings, lectures widely and appears frequently on TV and radio. Two years ago, she launched a nationwide campaign to stop hospital infection deaths. She is founder and Chairman of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths.

   Dr. McCaughey’s research on how to prevent infection deaths has been featured on Good Morning America, The CBS Morning Show, ABC’s 20/20 and many other national programs. She has also appeared on Hannity & Colmes, The O’Reilly Factor, CNN’s Talk Back Live, and numerous radio programs.

   Dr. McCaughey is the author of over 100 scholarly and popular articles on health policy, which have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, New Republic, Forbes Magazine, U.S. News & World Report and many other national publications.

   She has produced prize-winning studies at the Manhattan Institute and The Hudson Institute. Her 1994 article on the dangers of the Clinton health plan received the National Magazine Award for the best article in the nation on public policy. As Lieutenant Governor of New York State, she proposed health legislation that became models for legislation in other states and in Congress. Her current lobbying has helped create legislation in seven states. Forbes says “Her blunt criticisms find plenty of support among doctors.”

   Dr. McCaughey also lectures on aging, the scientific secrets to staying young, Medicare’s finances, the importance of pharmaceutical innovation and the need for medical malpractice reform.

   She connects to other vital international health issues such as Avian flu and smallpox. As hospitals expand their expenditures in infection control, she has become a sought after resource. Dr. McCaughey is currently writing a book on healthcare safety, accelerating the adoption of new medical breakthroughs, fostering medical innovation as the key strategy to cope with an aging population, and reducing the cost imposed by product liability and medical malpractice litigation.