Efforts to Curb Antibiotic Use in Livestock Fall Short, Says GAO
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a March 2017 report noting several oversight gaps in federal agencies’ efforts to track and curtail antibiotic use in food animals. According to GAO, the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture (USDA) have implemented several measures designed to reduce antibiotic resistance by increasing veterinary supervision of animal drug use; altering drug labeling guidance; and collecting data from food producers on their antibiotic regimens.
But GAO notes that these initiatives fall short of the more stringent government regulations promulgated by Canada, Denmark and the European Union, which have reportedly achieved reductions in antibiotic use in food animals and improved data collection. “For example, changes to drug labels do not address longterm and openended use of antibiotics for disease prevention because some antibiotics do not define duration of use on their labels,” states GAO. “FDA officials told GAO they are seeking public comments on establishing durations of use on labels, but FDA has not clearly defined objectives for closing this gap, which is inconsistent with federal internal control standards. Without doing so, FDA will not know whether it is ensuring judicious use of antibiotics.”
To this end, GAO recommends, among other things, that (i) “HHS address oversight gaps,” (ii) “HHS and USDA develop metrics for assessing progress in achieving goals,” and (iii) “USDA develop a framework with HHS to decide when to conduct on-farm investigations.” It also urges these agencies to address the oversight of antibiotics “administered in routes other than feed and water, such as injections and tablets,” and “to establish appropriate durations of use on labels of all medically important antibiotics used in food animals.”
Issue 628
