Senators Ask FDA to Be More Transparent with Food Animal Antibiotics Data
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators this week asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to be more transparent when they publish data regarding the use of antimicrobial drugs in food animal production.
The lawmakers, including Sens. Tom Harkin (D-IA), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Mark Kirk (R-IL), most of whom serve on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, said in a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg that they support FDA’s recent efforts to encourage veterinary pharmaceutical drug companies to drop growth-promotion claims form their antimicrobial labels and to rein in injudicious uses. But the senators are asking FDA go a step further and set “a clear timeline” to develop an antimicrobial data collection strategy based on the comments the agency has received from stakeholders.