A bill recently passed by the West Virginia legislature would undo the state’s mandate for newborns to receive prophylaxis against ophthalmia neonatorum, a potentially blindness-causing eye infection.
As of April 23, House Bill 3444 was headed to Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s desk, with the possibility of being signed into law.
According to Prevent Blindness, most U.S. states currently require that all newborns have an antibiotic ointment — typically erythromycin — applied to their eyes to prevent infection, known as ophthalmia neonatorum, passed from mother to child during