Three U.S. senators this week – Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) sent a second letter to the Interagency Task Force for Combating Antibiotic Resistance Bacteria. The Task Force is co-chaired by Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sylvia Mathews Burwell, Secretary of Agriculture, Thomas Vilsack, and Secretary of Defense, Ashton Carter.
This second letter “expresses concern and disappointment” that the Task Force has not formally responded to a July 28, 2014 letter regarding the implementation of President Obama’s Executive Order “Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria.” The senators had requested information on how the Task Force plans to address critical gaps in current Food and Drug Administration (FDA) policies to address the public health threat posed by the overuse of antibiotics in food animals, according to Bloomberg News. The initial letter sent by the three senators to the Task Force co-chairs asks about plans to address “critical gaps” in FDA policies on monitoring antibiotics in animals but have yet received a formal response to their inquiries.
“We are extremely disappointed that we have not received a formal response from your office,” the senators wrote. “Antibiotic-resistant bacteria present a major public health threat and public health experts agree that antibiotic resistance stems not only from antibiotic use in human medicine, but also from use in animals.”
In today’s letter, the Senators ask the Task Force co-chairs to provide a response to their previous questions within 30 days. They also urge the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to appoint at least three experts who understand the link between the overuse of antibiotics in agriculture and public health, and who do not have a conflicting business interest, to the 30-member Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria.
“Representatives from industrial animal producers associations and the veterinary drug industry have publicly voiced doubts about the need to reduce antibiotic use in animals and about the impact that the FDA’s policies will have on the amount of drugs used. However, public health experts agree that the use of antibiotics in animal agriculture is a critical contributor to antibiotic resistance. These experts need to have a seat at the table,” wrote the senators.
The letter from the Senators is available here.
