SOURCE ET SUITE
Despite U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) scientific findings
that the misuse of antibiotics in farm animals threatens human health
from “superbugs,” business will continue as usual.
Yesterday, in a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of
Appeals ruled that the FDA does not need to consider banning the routine
feeding of antibiotics to healthy animals despite the agency’s findings that this misuse of antibiotics fundamentally threatens the effectiveness of medicines in both humans and animals.
“This decision allows dangerous practices known to threaten human health to continue,” said Avinash Kar, attorney with Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). “Adding antibiotics to farm animals’ feed, day after day, is not what the doctor ordered and should not be allowed.”
The court’s ruling overturned two 2012 district court rulings in cases brought by NRDC, Center for Science in the Public Interest, Food Animal Concerns Trust, Public Citizen and Union of Concerned Scientists.
The earlier rulings directed the FDA to halt the regular use of
penicillin and tetracyclines in animal feed for healthy animals until
drug manufacturers could prove the safety of this practice.
Dissenting Judge Robert Katzmann said, “Today’s decision allows the
FDA to openly declare that a particular animal drug is unsafe, but then
refuse to withdraw approval of that drug. It also gives the agency
discretion to effectively ignore a public petition asking it to withdraw
approval from an unsafe drug. I do not believe the statutory scheme can
be read to permit those results.”
The practice of feeding low doses of antibiotics to healthy livestock
on factory farms is contributing to an increase in antibiotic-resistant
bacteria, or superbugs, which is a growing public health concern.
The FDA released voluntary guidelines last December to address this non-therapeutic use of medication. A subsequent Food & Water Watch
analysis revealed that 89 percent of antibiotic drugs that the
guidelines advise against using to speed growth can still be given to
healthy animals for other reasons—hence, the voluntary guidelines prove worthless.
“The misuse of antibiotics in food animal production contributes to
the epidemic of antibiotic resistance in our hospitals and communities,”
said Robert S. Lawrence, MD, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future
and a professor with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
Health. “Today’s decision is deeply disappointing because it allows
voluntary guidelines to take the place of decisive action in confronting
one of the most important public health problems of our time.”
While the appeals court decision is disappointing to those working to
keep antibiotics effective, their efforts continue. New York City
Council Member Ben Kallos yesterday introduced Resolution 353 calling
for a New York State and national ban on non-therapeutic use of
antibiotics in livestock.
“American health is directly affected by the conditions on factory
farms. Our government must enact basic rules to prevent disease and
better some of the most dire practices of modern factory farms,” said
Council Member Kallos.
The resolution calls upon the U.S. government to pass two bills, the
Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (H.R. 1150) and
the Preventing Antibiotic Resistance Act (S. 1256). These bills would
reinstate what the district courts had ruled in favor of—drug
manufacturers would have to prove non-therapeutic antibiotic use will
not lead to antibiotic resistance in humans.
“Simply put, the rampant misuse of antibiotics on factory farms is
putting the health of every American at risk. Since Congress has yet to
protect our health with common-sense farm antibiotics regulations,
cities and towns across the country are demanding action,” said Eric
Weltman, senior organizer with Food & Water Watch. “But no voice
speaks louder than that of New York City, so when this resolution is
passed, our leaders in Washington will surely take notice.”
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire