The Food and Drug Administration urged farmers on Monday to stop giving antibiotics to cattle, poultry, hogs and other animals to spur their growth, citing concern that drug overuse is helping to create dangerous bacteria that do not respond to medical treatment and endanger human lives. Joshua M. Sharfstein, the FDA's principal deputy commissioner, said antibiotics should be used only to protect the health of an animal and not to help it grow or improve the way it digests its feed. "This is an urgent public health issue," Sharfstein said during a conference call with reporters. "To preserve the effectiveness [of antibiotics], we simply must use them as judiciously as possible." The FDA issued a draft of its guidance, and the public has 60 days to comment on the draft. Sharfstein said that the guidance was a first step, and the agency would issue new regulations if the industry does not comply voluntarily. The FDA has tried to limit the use of antibiotics in agriculture since 1977, but its efforts have repeatedly collapsed in the face of opposition from the drug industry and farm lobby.
Bonnie - it is beyond belief that there still has not been firm legislation regulating this practice, Aside from the human toll, the cost for treating antibiotic-resistant superbugs such as MRSA and C. Difficile is so high, that alone should be enough for the FDA to act much more strongly than this.
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