Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Lester M. Crawford has turned down a petition by Bayer Corp. asking for permission to keep selling its veterinary antibiotic Baytril while it appeals an agency ban on the drug.
The FDA announced its ban on the widely used drug in 2000, when it concluded that Baytril was increasing the speed at which similar human antibiotics were becoming ineffective. Baytril is in the same antibiotic family as the important human antibiotic Ciprofloxacin (Cipro).
Bayer is fighting the ban through the FDA appeal process and has indicated it may pursue the case in federal court. Bayer, as well as the trade group that represents animal drugmakers and several veterinarian associations, asked Crawford last month to delay implementing the ban.
In his Sept. 2 denial, announced yesterday, Crawford said that there are alternatives to Baytril and that the parties did not show that they would suffer irreparable harm if the drug is taken off the market.
by staff writer Marc KaufmanWashington Post
