A newly filed Senate bill would require the FDA to withdraw its approval of the use of medically important antibiotics in food animals unless drugmakers show there is no risk to human health. The four sponsors say the bill addresses a gap in the FDA campaign, begun in 2013, to phase out the use of the drugs as a growth promotant. The Pew Charitable Trusts says 83 antibiotics are approved for growth promotion, as well as to prevent or treat illness.
“Our bill would assure that antibiotics used to treat diseases are not used inappropriately,” said California Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Co-sponsor Susan Collins of Maine said the bill would reduce the chance of antibiotic-resistant bacteria arising from the over-use of antibiotics in livestock. It would require the FDA to begin a review in 2017 of antibiotics used in livestock, and to re-label them by the end of that year.