Please read the full article from Wired.com:
"Doctors don’t hand out antibiotics as preventive measures, to be popped like vitamin C, because that would accelerate the evolution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Having a few tough bugs survive in a patient who needed the drug is an inevitable downside, but cultivating those bugs in millions of already-healthy people is foolish.
...
"Last year, the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production concluded that 'the present system of producing food animals in the United States is not sustainable and presents an unacceptable level of risk to public health.' Five of their 24 recommendations — including the top two — involved antibiotic use in farm animals. The Pew Commission was composed of national experts, not marginal activists. Other advocates of cutting back on farm antibiotics include the World Health Association, American Medical Association, American Public Health Association and the American Association of Pediatrics."
But that’s not how it works on industrial U.S. farms, where antibiotics are routinely added to animal feed in order to encourage growth and prevent infections exacerbated by overcrowding and stress. About 70 percent of all antibiotics used in the United States are given to healthy farm animals."
See also: NYTimes.com
Granted, our factory farming of animals in deplorable conditions makes it understandable why companies would want to dope all their animals. Allowing them this irresponsible antibiotic protection is also a vote for the status quo of industrial animal production which is an environmental and food safety issue far beyond the medical implications of disease resistance.
From the NYTimes article:
"The farm lobby’s opposition makes its passage unlikely, but advocates are hoping to include the measure in the legislation to revamp the health care system."
Make up for the money imbalance by flexing your communication. Spend a minute and go to:
Tell Congress: Keep Antibiotics Working!
