FDA Can Curtail Antibiotic Crisis by Ending Misuse in Livestock Animals, Say Health Advocate Groups in New Lawsuit

To protect the safety of consumers, meat processing workers and farming communities, a coalition of public health advocacy groups have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and its Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), challenging the refusal to phase out unnecessary uses of antibiotics in animal agriculture.

Approximately two-thirds of medically important antibiotics sold in the U.S. are for use in food-producing animals, and are often administered to healthy animals en masse to compensate for the higher risk of infections typically caused by cramped, unsanitary or stressful conditions. The misuse of these medicines has contributed to the rise and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria–a growing public health crisis responsible for 35,000 deaths and over 2.8 million cases of illness each year in the United States.

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