Last week, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce held the third in a series of hearings addressing the increasing dangers of antibiotic resistance. This debate emphasized the overuse of antibiotics on farms.

Ten healthcare, veterinary health, and public health officials testified at the hearing in support of legislation to regulate the non-therapeutic use of antibiotics in food-producing animals.

Principal Deputy Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration Joshua Sharfstein cited an FDA report concluding that unchecked antibiotic use in animals is not in the best interest of public health.

The non-profit coalition Health Care Without Harm presented the subcommittee with a petition signed by over 1,000 physicians and other healthcare professionals supporting the regulatory legislation.

Concern about antibiotic resistance has prompted the pledges of more than 300 U.S. hospitals to stop serving meat raised with antibiotics.

The Centers for Disease Control estimate about 60,000 deaths each year are due to drug-resistant microbes.

Read more:

• Meat with antibiotics off the menu at some hospitals (Chicago Tribune)
• Hearing on "Antibiotic Resistance and the Use of Antibiotics in Animal Agriculture" (U.S. House of Representatives)

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