Spurred by concern over antibiotic resistance among people, legislation introduced in Congress would phase out nontherapeutic use of medically important antibiotics in livestock and poultry over two years.
Farm-to-fork antibiotics; debate stirs controversy among experts.
Use of the drugs could continue if manufacturers demonstrate that they present no potential for causing people to become resistant to antibiotics.
Several industry groups say the Food and Drug Administration already applies scientific study to the issue and the bill is not necessary.
"A lawmaker in Washington is not the right person to set the standard," said Anne Burkholder, chairman of the animal health and nutrition committee with the Nebraska Cattlemen. "That's what we have the FDA for."
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association issues a guide for judicious use of antibiotics that includes avoiding drugs important in human medicine and using antibiotics only to prevent or control disease, Burkholder said.
Liz Wagstrom, associate vice president of science and technology at the National Pork Board in Des Moines, said one difficulty with the proposed legislation is defining nontherapeutic use. Antibiotic use for growth promotion can help keep animals healthy, Wagstrom said.
Under bills introduced by Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Rep. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, the Food and Drug Administration would withdraw approval of antibiotics used to promote growth, weight gain or routine disease prevention in livestock and poultry if the drugs also are important to human health.
Penicillin, tetracycline and streptogramin are among the drugs or derivatives of drugs listed by the bill's sponsors.
For years, the FDA's approval process for animal drugs has considered information on their potential impact on treatment resistance among people. But the bills' sponsors say the agency only recently has given in-depth consideration to the issue, and many of the drugs currently used were approved before the change.
FDA officials said the agency's Center for Veterinary Medicine intends to review currently used drugs as resources permit. Just how long that could take was not known, but reviews require a substantial amount of time and resources, FDA officials said.
"We cannot speculate on the impact of the proposed bill," the agency said in a statement. "However, the agency's intentions would certainly be to comply with any statutory requirements that may be mandated by Congress."
Last year, the Food and Drug Administration withdrew approval of a drug produced by Bayer Corp. for treating bacterial infections in poultry because it appeared to be causing treatment-resistant infections in people, the agency said.
Brown said his bill would make certain that similar reviews are done within two years of the legislation being passed.
"Every day we delay adds costs to our health care system and puts lives at risk," Brown said.
The issue has gained traction in Maine, which last month decided to tell meat producers its state agencies prefer to buy products from animals that have not been given antibiotics for nontherapeutic purposes. The policy, believed by supporters to be the first of its kind in the country, encourages Maine school districts to buy similar products.
Other groups worried about antibiotic use in livestock include the American Medical Association, which opposes nontherapeutic use of antibiotics in animals, and the Infectious Diseases Society of America in Alexandria, Va., which represents 8,000 infectious disease physicians and scientists.
"We're squandering a legacy," said Dr. Martin Blaser, president of the society and chairman of the Department of Medicine at New York University School of Medicine. "We're not going to have antibiotics for our children and grandchildren."
However, the Institute of Food Technologists, based in Chicago, said in a report in June that eliminating antibiotic drugs from animal production may have little positive effect on resistant bacteria that threaten human health.
In some cases in Europe, the institute's report said, eliminating antibiotic drugs used for promoting animal growth resulted in increased disease among the animals, more antibiotic use and more resistant bacteria.
"There can be unintended consequences," said Mike Doyle, chairman of the study and director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia.Omaha World-Herald
