Dive Brief:
- A federal appeals court ruled 2-1 that the Food and Drug Administration is not under a legal obligation to hold public hearings about the use of antibiotics to promote growth in livestock.
- The ruling essentially clears the FDA of a need to reconsider its policy of allowing the use of antibiotics for food-producing animals that are not sick. The FDA issued voluntary guidelines late last year, but has declined to ban the drugs, issue rules, or to hold hearings.
- Health advocates had filed the lawsuit back in 2011 as evidence grew that humans were developing resistance to antibiotics used in livestock -- a development that threatens human health.
Dive Insight:
What the court has done here is to say the legal equivalent of "not our problem." The court notes the possibility that the FDA's inaction could be " politically inspired foot dragging," but says that's really none of the court's business.
Perhaps not. But that raises the question of just whose business it is. The Centers for Disease Control and legions of public-health officials say it's their business ... and they want the stuff banned. But the FDA has declined to do much more than ask drug makers to voluntarily change the labels on antibiotics. Fortunately, giant food processors like Cargill seem to be acknowledging the dangers of antibiotics in feed much faster than the FDA.