Keep Antibiotics Working Statement on Hearing Regarding Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (PAMTA)

Keep Antibiotics Working | Angela Pauly | July 15, 2009

Keep Antibiotic Working (KAW) applauds Chairwoman Slaughter for holding the July 13th House Rules Committee hearing on PAMTA, and recognizes the key leadership of the participating Committee members for their thoughtful and informative questions, which were instrumental in elevating the debate around this important legislation.

The highlight of the hearing was FDA Deputy Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein’s testimony. The FDA's commitment to combating the antibiotic resistance crisis by targeting the overuse in animal agriculture of antibiotics important to human medicine is indeed welcome news. But the job isn't done. To protect our food supply and the public health, Congress must pass PAMTA.

The legislation would require the FDA to review key antibiotics used in animal agriculture for purposes other than to treat sick animals, to determine whether such use puts public health at risk by contributing to increased resistance. The legislation would also require the agency, in a timely manner, to withdraw approvals for any drugs whose nontherapeutic use cannot be shown to be safe.

The unfolding public health and food safety crisis of antibiotic resistance can no longer allow for the overuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture to go unchecked.

Keep Antibiotics Working (KAW) is a coalition of health, consumer, agricultural, environmental, humane, and other advocacy groups, with more than eleven million supporters, dedicated to the preservation of antibiotics for use in human and animal medicine.

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