Here’s some good news for both livestock and humans!
Donna


http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/29/opinion/antibiotic-use-and-abuse-on-the-farms.html?smid=fb-share

Antibiotic Use, and Abuse, on the Farms
By THE EDITORIAL BOARD MARCH 28, 2014
The Food and Drug Administration’s efforts to get the voluntary cooperation of
drug companies to curb the overuse of antibiotics in animal feed is off to a
rousing good start.
The agency announced on Wednesday that 25 of the 26 manufacturers of the
antibiotics of greatest concern had agreed to modify their labels to block such
usage. They account for almost all sales of these drugs.
Medical experts have long been concerned that rampant overuse of
antibiotics in agriculture — to speed the growth of cattle, pigs and chickens and
to prevent disease among animals crowded together in unsanitary conditions —
is stimulating the emergence of bacteria resistant to treatment by some of the
most important antibiotics used to treat humans.
The F.D.A. issued new policy guidelines in December that called for drug
companies to revise their labels voluntarily to reduce overuse. This week, it
announced that 25 companies agreed to remove “growth promotion” as one of
the purposes for which their drugs can be used.
That effectively makes it illegal for farmers and ranchers to use the drugs to
grow fatter animals faster. Although some skeptics worry that these voluntary
steps can be reversed in the future, that appears unlikely.
Should a company want to reinstate “growth promotion” as a purpose on its
labels, it would need F.D.A. approval to do so. The agency has said that using the
drugs to produce faster weight gain is no longer appropriate, implying that it
would not approve such a change.
The other major abuse is putting antibiotics in the food or water of healthy
animals to protect them from contracting and spreading disease in crowded pens
and cages. The F.D.A. guidelines called for all therapeutic uses to be overseen by
veterinarians.
The 25 companies agreed to stop selling these drugs over the counter and
will, instead, require that they be prescribed by a veterinarian, who will be
expected to curb unwarranted use of the drugs in healthy animals.
Skeptics worry that veterinarians will be cavalier in writing prescriptions to
keep ranchers and farmers happy, but there are ways to mitigate that risk. Both
the veterinarians and the farmers and ranchers could be vulnerable to penalties
if they use these medically important drugs for unauthorized purposes.
The F.D.A. is still finalizing its rule on what will be required of veterinarians.
One reasonable suggestion is that veterinarians be required to visit the farms for
which they are prescribing drugs — to educate the farmers and prevent a few
rogue prescribers from undermining the effort to reduce usage.
The agency pledged to monitor how well the companies are abiding by the
changes and to take further actions if necessary. It will also be important to
measure whether there is a decline in antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance on
farms and ranches. If not, the F.D.A. may need to pursue other regulatory action.
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