HSVMA petitions against antibiotics 'overuse'

Washington

-- The Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association (HSVMA) is petitioning Congress to phase out non-therapeutic use of antibiotics in animal agriculture.

The group targets what it calls the “overuse” of antibiotics in the petition and urges lawmakers to pass the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act. The bill which would require the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to rethink the approvals it has issued for animal feed uses of drugs in seven classes of antibiotics.

HSVMA says the petition was inspired by FDA’s recent release of a report that shows nearly 29 million pounds of antibiotics were sold in 2009 for therapeutic and non-therapeutic uses in food-animals.

More than 370 organizations have endorsed the bill, according to HSVMA, including the American Medical Association and the American Public Health Association.