A lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco challenges FDA approval of several ractopamine-based animal drugs. The Humane Society of the United States, the Animal Legal Defense Fund and the United Farm Workers union says FDA approval of the drugs should be set aside until the agency performs an environmental review. The groups say FDA failed to look into the cumulative effect the drugs have on animal behavior, worker safety, wildlife and waterways. Ractopamine encourages livestock to gain weight more rapidly with greater feed efficiency.
The lawsuit aims at drugs that combine ractopamine with antibiotics and steroids. “These drugs remain active in animal waste, and when sprayed on fields, or spilled from manure lagoons, they can wreak havoc on habitat, wildlife and endangered species,” the groups said in a statement. They said millions of pigs, turkeys and cattle are given the drugs. They also ractopamine can cause “death, lameness, stiffness, trembling and shortness of breath in farm animals.”
Merck is taking steps to return its cattle feed additive Zilmax to the market by changing the way the drug is administered, said Reuters. The company said it has FDA approval of a lower dosage and an alternative method of feeding it to cattle. Merck suspended sales of Zilmax in August 2013. Many feedlot operators switched to a ractopamine-based drug produced by Elanco.