The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee just released an update of the Animal Drug User Fee Act (ADUFA). This Act is supposed to require drug companies to report details about antibiotic sales, but the provision that would have increased the FDA's reporting of antibiotic sales used in food animals is missing. The Pew Charitable Trusts expressed disappointment with the update. Laura Rogers, a project director at that agency, said in a statement, "we are extremely disappointed that the Senate committee charged with protecting our health has neglected its mission. The nation's public health leaders urged the committee to allow the FDA to collect more detailed information about the sale of antibiotics for food animal production. Without greater transparency, the … [Read more...]
Waxman and Slaughter Introduce Antibiotics Bill
Congresspersons Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Louise Slaughter (D-NY) have introduced a bill into Congress to better monitor antibiotic use in animals. The bill, H.R. 820, the Delivering Antimicrobial Transparency in Animals (DATA) Act, will provide information on the amount of and use of antibiotics given to animals raised for human consumption. Rep. Waxman said in a statement, "the widespread use of antibiotics in animals is a vital public health issue. We need to learn more about how these drugs are being used. With this information, scientists will be able to better pinpoint the relationship between the routine use of antibiotics in humans and the development of dangerous resistant bugs that can harm humans. This knowledge will inform scientists and Congress and start us down the path to … [Read more...]
FDA Data Shows Continued Antibiotic Use on Farms
The organization Keep Antibiotics Working (KAW) has released a statement on just released FDA data about antibiotic use in food animals. The government said that for the second year in a row, sales of penicillins and tetracyclines for use in food producing animals increased. Sales rose from 11.5 million pounds in 2009 to 14.4 million pounds in 2011. Penicillins and tetracyclines are important in human medicine and are the most commonly used antibiotics in food producing animals. Congressional debate about the reauthorization of the Animal Drug User Fee Act (ADUFA) is beginning. The Act is set to reauthorize this year. KAW says that strong action to address the overuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture is needed. Steven Roach, Public Health Program Director at Food Animal Concerns … [Read more...]
GAP Sues FDA for Withholding Animal Drug Data
The Government Accountability Project (GAP) has sued the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over information about how antibiotics are used in food animals. GAP is a non-profit organization in Washington D.C. that supports and litigates on behalf of whistleblowers in the private sector and the federal government. Their Food Integrity Campaign's mission is to facilitate truth-telling and transparency in industry and government. GAP is suing the FDA under the Freedom of Information Act, which requires the federal government to release information to the public unless the agency "demonstrates that one of the nine enumerated statutory exemptions applies," such as trade secrets or commercial or financial information. The Animal Drug User Fee Act (ADUFA) requires sponsors of animal drugs to … [Read more...]
