[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 25 (Friday, February 9, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E309]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E309]]
         PRESERVATION OF ANTIBIOTICS FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. LOUISE McINTOSH SLAUGHTER

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, February 8, 2007

  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce legislation 
that is critically important in preventing our current stock of 
antibiotics from becoming obsolete. As a mother, grandmother, and 
microbiologist, I cannot stress the urgency of this problem enough.
  Seven classes of antibiotics that are considered medically important 
for humans are currently approved by the Federal Food and Drug 
Administration (FDA) for nontherapeutic use in animal agriculture. 
Among them are penicillin, tetracyclines, macrolides, lincosamides, 
streptogramins, aminoglycosides, and sulfonamides. These classes of 
antibiotics are among the most critically important in our arsenal of 
defense against potentially fatal diseases.
  Penincillins, for example, are used to treat infections ranging from 
strep throat to meningitis. Macrolides and Sulfonamides are used to 
prevent secondary infections in patients with AIDS and to treat 
pneumonia in HIV-infected patients. Tetracyclines are used to treat 
people potentially exposed to anthrax.
  Despite their importance in human medicine, these drugs are added to 
animal feed as growth promotants and for routine disease prevention. 
This kind of habitual, nontherapuetic use of antibiotics has been 
conclusively linked to a growing number of incidents of antimicrobial-
resistant infections in humans, and may be contaminating ground water 
with resistant bacteria in rural areas.
  The legislation I am introducing today, the Preservation of 
Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act, would phase out the use of the 
seven classes of medically significant antibiotics that are currently 
approved for nontherapeutic use in animal agriculture. Make no mistake, 
this bill would in no way infringe upon the use of these drugs to treat 
a sick animal. It simply proscribes their nontherapuetic use.
  Although the FDA could withdraw its approval for these antibiotics, 
its record of reviewing currently approved drugs under existing 
procedures indicate that it would take nearly a century to get these 
medically important antibiotics out of the feed given to food producing 
animals. In October 2000, for example, the FDA began consideration of a 
proposal to withdraw its approval for the therapeutic use of 
fluoroquinolones in poultry. The review is still ongoing, and under its 
regulations, the FDA must review each class of antibiotics separately.

  Unfortunately, upcoming actions by the FDA could make us less, not 
more safe. As antimicrobial resistance is on the rise, the FDA is 
considering an application to permit the use of a fourth-generation 
cephalosporin, cefquinome, in animal agriculture. Fourth-generation 
cephalosporins are used to treat food borne illnesses, including E. 
Coli and Salmonella. In Europe, where cefquinome has been approved for 
use in animal agriculture, scientists have noticed an increase in 
resistant bacteria. Already, the emerging strains of resistant bacteria 
are reaching a crisis level here in the United States. That the FDA is 
currently considering approval of a drug that will only make humans 
more vulnerable to resistant bacteria underscores the need for this 
legislation.
  Madam Speaker, when we go to the grocery store to pick up dinner, we 
should be able to buy our food without worrying that eating it will 
expose our family to potentially deadly bacteria that will no longer 
respond to our medial treatments. Unless we act now, we will 
unwittingly be permitting animals to serve as incubators for resistant 
bacteria.
  It is time for Congress to stand with scientists, the World Health 
Organization, the American Medical Association, and the National 
Academy of Sciences and do something to address the spread of resistant 
bacteria. We cannot afford for our medicines to become obsolete.
  I urge my colleagues to support the Preservation of Antibiotics for 
Medical Treatment Act to protect the integrity of our antibiotics and 
the health of American families.

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