Posted May 2, 2014
On Thursday, the California State Senate passed a bill
to restrict the use of antibiotics in farm animals for growth enhancement, requiring
that the drugs be sold by prescription for medical reasons only, according to
an article by Reuters available here. The text of the bill, SB 835, is available here.
This “first-in-the-nation” legislation would codify
into law voluntary U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines issued in
December 2013, aimed at reducing antibiotic resistance, said state Senator
Jerry Hill, author of the bill. “The
more antibiotics are used, the more resistance will develop,” Hill said. “This is an emergent public health issue.”
The FDA Guidance is available here. The FDA proposed rule amending regulations on
antibiotics in animal feed is available here. For more information on FDA’s efforts to
reduce antibiotic resistance, a recent post from this blog is available here.
This legislation would “require that antibiotics be
sold with a veterinarian prescription and that antibiotic manufacturers label
the drugs to show that they require prescriptions.” The bill would only apply to antibiotics used
by humans and would not restrict drugs used solely for animals.
The bill is supported by the California Veterinary
Medical Association, according to an article by the LA Times available here.
For more information on antibiotic use in agriculture,
an article from the Congressional Research Service is available here.
