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# Rep. Slaughter Urges More FDA Antibiotic Resistance Efforts
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/rep-slaughter-urges-more-fda-antibiotic-resistance-efforts/
- Published: 2017-11-29T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T23:03:53.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Drugs, #legacy-id-D5140231

Rep. **Louise Slaughter** (D-NY) has urged FDA to take stronger action to preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics and protect public health. The push comes as the agency continues to develop a draft rule ([FDA-2017-N-1197](https://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm571091.htm?ref=fdaweb.com)) that would impact how antibiotics sold for use in livestock raised for human consumption are measured.

“Eighty percent of all antibiotics used in the United States are used not on humans but on food-animals, most of which are perfectly healthy,” Slaughter said in a [letter](http://An on-farm data collection program is desperately needed in order to fully understand the drivers of antibiotic use and help researchers develop alternative livestock management practices and disease interventions that would benefit both farmers and public health. Such a program could be accomplished through FDA’s authority to review veterinary feed directives or by working in coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention %28CDC%29 and U.S. Department of Agriculture %28USDA%29 to expand and improve existing monitoring programs.) to FDA. “This is dangerous and unsustainable. As I have been saying for years, publically available data on how antimicrobials are being used on farms is critical to preventing resistance and preserving the effectiveness of these live-saving drugs. I urge you to move forward with meaningful and transparent measures that uphold the FDA’s mandate to protect public health and hold the agricultural and pharmaceutical industries profiting from these irresponsible practices accountable.”

Slaughter is a sponsor of the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act, which would preserve the effectiveness of medically important antibiotics by ending the use of these drugs in healthy food-producing animals, while allowing their use for treatment of sick animals. It includes a mandatory restriction on unnecessary non-therapeutic uses of medically important antibiotics in healthy animals, which the World Health Organization [recently recommended](https://louise.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/slaughter-statement-release-latest-guidance-tackle-growing-threat?ref=fdaweb.com). She has also sponsored the Delivering Antimicrobial Transparency in Animals Act to require the agency to collect and report real-world, on-the-farm usage data including the indication, dose, duration of use, and number of animals treated from large livestock producers.

Slaughter’s letter outlined concrete steps FDA should take immediately, such as disclosing as much antibiotic sales data as possible, using a methodology that allows comparisons with countries like the E.U. and Canada that are ahead of the U.S. in transparent reporting of how antibiotics are used in livestock. She also asked FDA to implement an on-farm data collection program to “fully understand the drivers of antibiotic use and help researchers develop alternative livestock management practices and disease interventions that would benefit both farmers and public health.”