Florida Legislature Passes Updated Guidelines on Community Acquired Pneumonia.....

Tallahassee, FL- After several weeks of intense debate among the 160 Florida state legislators during an emergency late Summer session at the capital, both the Senate and House of Representatives have agreed on recommendations for the diagnosis and management of community-acquired pneumonia in children. The "Lower Respiratory Infection/MANPADS Act" is expected to be signed by Governor Rick Scott later this week.

Governor Scott, shown here trying to break his favorite Husky bill signing pencil during a tantrum. Experts believe that the pencil is made from Kenyan red cedar with a manticore tail core.

"This is something that Florida pediatricians have been waiting for," Tallahassee physician Mort Fishman explained. "Sure, the Infectious Disease Society of America and American Academy of Pediatrics have given us some guidance in the past, but since our state government officially took over direct patient care directives earlier this year we've been stumbling around in the dark. It isn't perfect, but this is Florida."

The law, which specifies when radiographic imaging is appropriate and lists first and second line antibiotics for use when a bacterial cause is suspected, also requires that pediatricians refrain from asking parents about the presence of man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) in the home. Representative Larry Ahern, co-sponsor of the bill, had expressed concern regarding potential invasion of parental privacy that plays no role in the health of the child in the past. "Shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles are frankly of no concern to a healthcare provider and any physician accused of violating this law will be brought before the Florida Board of Medicine for disciplinary action."