By Marc Jampole
Were
you as delighted as I was when I read the headline that the Food and Drug Administration has a new policy prohibiting the use of antibiotics to speed the
growth of pigs and other animals cultivated for human consumption? Trace
antibiotics in the animals we eat have contributed to the increasing resistance
of bacteria to the antibiotics we use to treat infections. The new policy forbids use of antibiotics as
growth stimulants and also requires farmers to get prescriptions each and every
time they want to treat a sick animal with antibiotics.
On
the surface it looks like a great victory for every American because it is
going to make all of us safer and less likely to die in an illness. The New York Times version of the announcement
points out that two million people fall sick and 23,000 die every year from
antibiotic-resistant infections. CNN reports that in April the FDA said that 81% of all
the raw ground turkey the agency tested was contaminated with
antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Currently
every hospital patient encounters the danger of opportunistic infections that
don’t respond to antibiotics.
Every
one of the 15 news reports I read hail it as big news: “major new policy,”
”broad measures” and “sweeping plan” are some of the descriptions of the FDA
action.
But
before we break out the champagne, let’s read the fine print: It’s all
voluntary.
Virtually
all the news stories bury this fact or downplay it. For example, the Times says that, based on comments made during the discussion
period that proceeds all federal regulation, rules and advisories, the FDA was
confident that drug companies would comply (which I suppose means refusing to
sell antibiotics to farmers without prescriptions for specific animals).
Then
there’s the matter of a three-year phase-in period. No one has bothered to
explain why anyone would need three years to implement this plan: just stop
doing it, right away.
As
some reports have noted, health officials have warned about the overuse of
antibiotics leading to increased resistance since the 1970s. In other words
after 40 years of warnings, studies, discussions and negotiations regarding a
major public health challenge, the best we can come up with is a voluntary plan.
Have
no doubts about it: Some drug company somewhere in the world will continue to
sell this stuff to farmers and farmers will still use it.
If
the federal government were really serious about lowering the amount of
antibiotics humans ingest in their food and water, it would have set mandatory
regulations that took effect within 30 days. But such an action would take a
cash stream from drug manufacturers and raise the cost of raising domesticated
animals. Farmers and meat processors would make less money and consumers would
likely pay a little more for their ground round and chicken nuggets. It’s worth it, though, as the eradication of
the use of antibiotics will make everyone in the United States (and the world)
safer from the threat of contracting a life-threatening infection every time they
have an operation and safer from the risk of an epidemic of virulent and
untreatable infections.
Industry
pressures most assuredly caused the wishy-washy action of asking drug makers to
resist the urge to make more money. The news behind the news then is that once
again, our government has compromised the health, safety and economic
well-being of its citizens to enable a small group of companies to continue
making money. The additional illnesses and deaths are paid for by all of
society, bringing down the costs or raising the profits for a small segment of
society. It’s another example of
shifting of the costs from companies to society at large, and it demonstrates
once again that unfettered free market capitalism does not lead to the greatest
good for the most people.
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