Obama Backs Bill to Ban Prophylactic Antibiotics

In a potentially promising development, President Obama’s Principal Deputy Commissioner of Food and Drugs testified in support of a bill that would ban subtherapeutic antibiotic use in animals.  The reason: pumping animals full of antibiotics is bad, bad, bad.   In addition to the systemic animal abuse such drugs enable, their downstream environmental impact is clear, obvious, and chilling.  I have blogged at some length  about this issue (e.g., here and here).

The AMA, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and the Pew Environment Group (among others) all back the proposed measure .  Should we then hope?  Of course not.  Big Food opposes the bill and, as the NYT notes, that opposition alone will probably spell its doom.

–David Cassuto