Antibiotics

See the following -

Drug Firms 'To Blame' For Antibiotic Resistance

Sarah Knapton | Leader-Post | January 19, 2015

Drug companies' poor practices are to blame for the rise of antibiotic resistance which threatens to make even the smallest infections deadly, one industry chief executive has claimed...

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Drug-Resistant Bacteria On Chicken: It’s Everywhere And The Government Can’t Help

Maryn McKenna | Wired | December 19, 2013

Two important, linked publications are out today, both carrying the same message: The way we raise poultry in this country is creating an under-appreciated health hazard, and the government structures we depend upon to detect that hazard and protect us from it are failing us. Read More »

Elizabeth Warren Questions FDA Rules for Limiting Antibiotics on Farms

Venessa Wong | Bloomberg Businessweek | March 14, 2014

New voluntary rules to limit the use of antibiotics in agriculture aren’t enough to satisfy Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). [...] Read More »

Experts Propose Global Targets for Cutting Antibiotic Use

Chris Dall | CIDRAP News | August 19, 2016

Arguing that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threatens to erase decades of progress in medicine, public health, and food security, a group of global health experts is urging the United Nations (UN) to set global targets for reduced antibiotic consumption. In a commentary published yesterday in Science, the authors argue that countries should aim to consume no more than the current median global level of antibiotics (8.54 defined daily doses per capita per year), an amount they say would reduce global antibiotic use by more than 17.5%...

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Farm-Drug Companies Agree To Antibiotics Ban. More Of The Same, Or Fresh Start?

Maryn McKenna | Wired | March 28, 2014

Big news in the realm of agricultural antibiotics: For the first time in almost 37 years of trying, the US Food and Drug Administration has achieved some control over the meat-industry practice of routinely giving antibiotics to livestock. The drawback: The control comes in the form of a voluntary commitment by veterinary drug manufacturers [...]. Read More »

Farmers Giving Livestock More Antibiotics Despite Superbug Threat

Josh Hicks | The Washington Post | October 7, 2014

The sale of antibiotics for livestock increased 16 percent from 2009 to 2012 in a trend that has troubling implications for resistance in humans, according to the Food and Drug Administration...

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FDA Antimicrobial Resistance Guidelines Fail to Address Root Causes

Last December, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published two controversial documents on its website: Guidance 213 and the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD). The guidelines stirred a firestorm of protests from public health offiicials who argue that the guidelines are too weak to prevent the continuing growth of antibiotic resistant germs...the crisis, as outlined by Dr. Joseph Mercola, is that we are now "facing the perfect storm to take us back to the pre-antibiotic age, when some of the most important advances in modern medicine – intensive care, organ transplants, care for premature babies, surgeries and even treatment for many common bacterial infections – will no longer be possible." Read More »

FDA Fails To Protect Against Antibiotic Resistance, Guarantees More Needless Death And Suffering

Joseph Mercola | Mercola.com | April 23, 2014

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria infect two million Americans every year, causing at least 23,000 deaths. Even more die from complications related to the infections, and the numbers are steadily growing. Read More »

FDA Finally Imposes Some Controls On Agricultural Antibiotics. Sort Of.

Maryn McKenna | Wired | December 11, 2013

This morning, the US Food and Drug Administration dropped some long-awaited-but-still-big news regarding the use of antibiotics in meat production. Tl;dr: The FDA asked (but did not compel) the livestock industry to stop using the micro-dose “growth promoter” antibiotics that are widely believed to contribute to increase in antibiotic resistant bacteria in animals, food and humans. Read More »

FDA Has Vetted Just Seven Percent Of Animal Antibiotics For Superbug Risk

Michael Erman | Reuters | September 15, 2014

Scientists fear the widespread use of antibiotics on the farm may be a factor in the rise of "superbugs" – bacteria that grow resistant to drugs, infect humans and defy conventional medicines.  Amid these concerns, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has come under pressure to curb antibiotic use in farm animals. In 2003, the agency announced plans to evaluate every new animal drug based on the drug's potential to create superbugs...

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FDA Inaction On Antibiotics Is Making The World Deadlier

Charles Kenny | Bloomberg Businessweek | December 23, 2013

This month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a guidance document (PDF) on the use of antibiotics in farm animals, which accounts for four-fifths of all antibiotics administered in the U.S. [...] The FDA suggests pharmaceutical companies voluntarily change a few labeling and marketing practices to help address that problem. Read More »

FDA Plays Chicken With Antibiotics: Newly Disclosed Documents Reveal Agency's "High Risk" Gamble With Human Health

Carmen Cordova | Switchboard | January 27, 2014

Here’s some unfortunate, but not so surprising news:  The Food and Drug Administration has allowed  30 potentially harmful antibiotic additives to remain approved for use in food animals (cows, pigs and chickens), even though the agency’s own scientists found them to pose a risk to human health or lack necessary data on safety. Read More »

FDA Takes Significant Steps To Address Antimicrobial Resistance

Press Release | Food and Drug Administration (FDA) | December 11, 2013

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today is implementing a plan to help phase out the use of medically important antimicrobials in food animals for food production purposes, such as to enhance growth or improve feed efficiency. The plan would also phase in veterinary oversight of the remaining appropriate therapeutic uses of such drugs. Read More »

FDA’s New Antibiotics Guidance Falls Short Of Improving Welfare And Reducing Health Risks From Factory Farming

Press Release | American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) | December 19, 2013

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s release of its long-awaited policy is drawing criticism from a group of leading animal welfare organizations, including The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®), Farm Sanctuary, Animal Welfare Approved, and the Animal Legal Defense Fund. Read More »

FDA’s Step To Limit Animal Antibiotics Symbolic–Animal Husbandry Issues Must Still be Addressed

Ralph Loglisci | Civil Eats | December 13, 2013

In 1977, the [FDA] let everyone know that there was strong evidence that the use of penicillin and tetracycline for anything other than treating disease in livestock, could lead to the development of super bugs strong enough to render the powerful antibiotics useless in people. [...] Now, [the FDA] has finally mustered the courage to approve a strongly worded recommendation for producers to stop using medically important antibiotics as growth promoters and to give veterinarians oversight over therapeutic uses of the life-saving drugs. Read More »