Judge Mandates FDA Against Non-Therapeutic Use Of Antibiotics in Livestock

U.S. Magistrate Judge Theodore Katz ordered the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin proceedings to withdraw approval of non-therapeutic use of antibiotics in livestock unless makers of the drugs can produce evidence that their use is safe.

The FDA had started such proceedings in 1977, prompted by its concerns the widespread use in livestock feed of certain antibiotics – particularly tetracyclines and penicillin, the most common. But the proceedings were never completed and the approval remained in place.
“In the intervening years, the scientific evidence of the risks to human health from the widespread use of antibiotics in livestock has grown, and there is no evidence that the FDA has changed its position that such uses are not shown to be safe,” Katz wrote.

The facts are hard to ignore.

Using common antibiotics in livestock feed has contributed to the rapid growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in both animals and humans and contributes to $20 billion in health care costs annually.

Antibiotic Use in Livestock Coming Under Scrutiny

The Food and Drug Administration is calling for restrictions in use of antibiotics in animals.

Crowded and filthy conditions call for the use of the drugs to prevent illness in the animals which could be passed on to humans.

However, it seems that the antibiotics are indeed being passed on to humans and helping to create super-bugs which are becoming increasingly drug resistant.

Some 80 percent of antibiotic drugs in the United States were sold for use in food animals, according to the FDA. Many of those are used to help animals grow faster and prevent infections from breaking out on big farms. Today’s announcement on cephalosporins doesn’t affect those antibiotics in feed.

Still, the more the cephalosporins are used, the greater the chances that they will stop working because bacteria can become resistant to them.

Related Posts