Traverse City Record-Eagle

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January 18, 2012

Other View: Antibiotic overuse dangerous

The Free Press Mankato, Minn. ----

When Ben Franklin said an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, he didn’t mean an ounce of antibiotics should be used to get a couple of hundred pounds of cured ham.

The controversy over the routine use of antibiotics in the animal food industry is not new. For years they have been added to animal feed. Federal drug regulators have tried to restrict antibiotics’ use in the past to ensure overuse doesn’t negate the drugs’ effectiveness for human use. Opposition by meat producers has blocked some of those proposals.

But there has been some promising action recently, and hopefully there will be more to follow. The Food and Drug Administration recently ordered that farmers and ranchers must restrict use of antibiotics known as cephalosporins. For humans, the drugs are most often prescribed to treat strep throat, bronchitis, skin infections and urinary tract infections.

The FDA indicates these drugs are critically important for people, especially children, but they risk becoming less effective, National Public Radio reports. The agency has tracked a sharp rise in salmonella resistant to cephalosporins in farm animals.

This is not the first time the FDA has tackled the cephalosporins issue. Restrictions proposed in 2008 were withdrawn because of opposition, according to The New York Times. This recent rule is less strict, still allowing for the unrestricted use of an older member of this class of drugs and letting vets use the drugs to treat feed animals if dose and duration guidelines are followed.

Despite the knowledge that overuse of antibiotics threatens the drugs’ effectiveness, the government has been slow to restrict the livestock industry’s use of these very important drugs. In fact, the FDA appears to be taking a step backward when it comes to the overall issue. In December the agency withdrew its plan to limit the use of antibiotics fed to healthy livestock intended for human consumption. In a statement in the Federal Register, the FDA says it instead plans to allow the industry to self-regulate.

The food industry is big business and the government, no doubt, feels the pressure to not cripple its performance ...

Superbugs that build up a resistance to antibiotics are an authentic public concern. ...

The FDA has an obligation to protect public health. The order to restrict the use of some antibiotics is a step in the right direction, but more action is needed to make sure other antibiotics, such as penicillin and tetracycline, are not overused.

The Free Press

Mankato, Minn.

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