By Judith Gayle | Political Waves
Let’s start out today with some good news: after generations of inaction, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is publishing suggested guidelines for the use of antibiotics in meat, a long unaddressed problem that has produced events like that of the Foster Farms outbreak this October, when tainted chicken caused illness in 23 states.
Sadly and not uncommonly these days, that particular strain of Salmonella was resistant to multiple kinds of antibiotics and attributed to the decades-long practice of low-level drugging of factory-farm animals. New guidelines ask veterinary drug companies to remove growth-promotion claims from their advertising, and a second step (and proposed rule) would make large purchases of antibiotics, currently available across the counter in feed lots, require authorization from a veterinarian.
The good news? About damned time! Bad news? Drug companies will have 90 days to notify the agency if they intend to comply, and the FDA will implement its plan over the next three years, then evaluate the results. As antibiotic-resistant infections kill some 23,000 Americans each year, and that number is growing, government regulation seems critical to retard the growth of untreatable superbugs.
As some 30 million pounds of these antibiotics — billions of dollars worth — were sold for use in animals in 2011, and just under 8 million pounds were consumed by humans, those who follow the money can’t help wonder just how effective these new guidelines will prove to be, three years hence. Regulation is only as good as the regulators. Just ask Wall Street.