Posted March 4, 2015
Senators
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) reintroduced the Prevention of
Antibiotic Resistance Act (PARA), according to a Food Safety News article
available here.
The Wall Street Journal also published an article here,
Feedstuffs here,
and Meating Place here.
The bill
was previously introduced in June 2013, and it would require the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) to withdraw its approval of medically important
antibiotics used for disease prevention or control that are at a high abuse risk.
The
legislation also stipulates criteria for determining when an antibiotic is
considered safe and effective, according to The
Wall Street Journal.
“This lays
out a plan for FDA to go forward and standards for determining judicious use of
antibiotics in food-producing animals,” says Gail Hansen, a public health
veterinarian and senior officer for the antibiotic resistance project at the
Pew Charitable Trusts. “The FDA has talked about growth promotion, but that’s
only part of how drugs are used for food animals. This is the next big part.”
Sponsors
said that the bill addresses a gap in the previous guidelines to eliminate the antibiotics
use to make animals gain weight, according to Feedstuffs.
The FDA
estimated that 107 antibiotics are used for therapeutic purposes, including
disease prevention or control, do not have a defined duration of therapy or are
labeled for continuous use. An analysis by the Pew Charitable Trusts estimated
that 83 antibiotics used for disease prevention or control have an overlapping
dose with a production use.
“These
antibiotics are at high risk of being inappropriately administered, which could
pose a risk to human health,” said Feinstein.
The
American Public Health Association, the Infectious Disease Society of America,
Trust for America’s Health, the American College of Preventive Medicine, and
the Pew Charitable Trusts endorsed the bill, according to Meating Place.
For more
information, the prevention of Antibiotic Resistance Act is available here.
For more information on antibiotic use in agriculture, an
article from the Congressional Research Service is available here.
