By KCUR News/AP
Jefferson City, MO – Missouri's health department says it's purged infection rate data for hospitals statewide. The move is drawing complaints from consumers who say it frustrates their efforts to adequately assess hospital performance.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports state officials believe the deleted material from 2005 through 2008 costs too much to maintain and is too sensitive for the public to examine for more than a year.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say infections linked to health care kill nearly 100,000 people nationwide each year and cost the health system up to $45 billion.