The Coalition for Animal Health has concerns over legislation before Congress, and they recently expressed these concerns in a letter the coalition sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.As reported by the Hoosier Ag Today, H.R. 1549, the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act, is the legislation the coalition has urged the Speaker not to attach to any bills that might get a vote in congress—including healthcare legislation and food safety legislation—two bills that would probably make an amendment to attach the legislation in H.R. 1549 germane.
H.R. 1549 would ban certain animal health products intended to prevent the spread of pathogens because of human health concerns. The basic concern is that the use of antibiotics leads to an increase in antibiotic-resistant illnesses, and thus increases human health care costs to treat these illnesses. However, the coalition believes just the opposite is true. They argue the science they’ve seen indicates removing the antibiotics would increase food safety risks. To read the Hoosier Ag story click here. To read cattlenetwork.com’s story click here.
The Coalition for Animal Health is made up of organizations representing veterinarians, farmers, ranchers, food and feed processors, and animal medicine manufacturers. Interestingly, in a summer when prevention is being stressed in healthcare legislation, the coalition argues H.R. 1549 would move away from the current practice of prevention to one of treatment after there is a pathogen outbreak. The legislation would also require some products go through a second round of approval by the Food and Drug Administration within two years of the bill’s passage.
To read H.R. 1549 or see a summary and cosposonsors click here.
Posted: 07/27/09
