Keep Antibiotics Working Wants To Do Just That

By Sam Lewis

Advocates of antibiotic reduction in livestock production hone in on marketing ambiguity

Last December, the FDA released its final plan to slowly rid the use of antibiotics as growth promoters in animals raised for food. The FDA gave just 90 days for the industry to comment with intentions to comply or not. By March, almost every animal drug sponsor told the FDA they have every intention of complying.

Then, just last week, Keep Antibiotics Working (KAW) delivered a letter to the USDA asking the agency to continue regulating drug companies who intend to avoid this guidance on animal feed. Advocates of public health believe the change won’t reduce significantly affect antibiotic use, claiming they will be used under the guise of disease prevention. This practice, believe by public health advocates, will still be a major element contributing to antibiotic overuse, and subsequently the continued rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Additional concern lies in the idea that companies could continue extra-label marketing for benefits like added growth. “Companies intent on avoiding reductions in sales that are likely to result from the withdrawal of growth promotion claims have several avenues open to them,” writes Steven Roach, director of the Food Animal Concerns Trust’s Food Safety Program in the the KAW letter to the FDA.

Roach uses a drug from Novartis as an example to address his concerns. This additive to animal feed contains tiamulin hydrogen fumarate, along with chlortetracycline hydrochloride, was never given approval for promoting animal growth but is still included in the list of affected products in Guidance #213. The drug is approved to control dysentery and treat diseases like pneumonia in livestock. However, the drug’s marketing literature places emphasis on its benefits to livestock production by way of body weight, daily gains, feed to gain ratios, and overall return on investment. It seems, at according to the drug’s marketing materials, it is more focused on producing bigger animals, opposed to improving an animal’s quality of life.

KAW is asking the FDA to require Novartis to halt promotion of production benefits of the drug and switch its focus, and primary use, to disease prevention and control. In the letter, Roach asks the FDA to, “send a general notice to all drug manufacturers that it will not tolerate the claims of production benefits in advertising associated with any medically important animal antibiotics.” While drug companies will have three years to comply with the guidelines, what better time is there than now to start? That way each company will know expectations now and moving forward to the compliance deadline.