Objections Over Antibiotic Approved for Use in Cattle

An anonymous reader writes "The Washington post reports that the FDA is expected to approve the marketing of the new antibiotic called Cefquinome for use in cattle. This is over objections of the American medical association, the FDA advisory board and the World Health Organization. Cefquinome is from a class of highly potent 'last line of defense' antibiotics for several serious human infections. It is feared that large scale use in cattle will allow bacteria to develop a resistance to these drugs. This news follows complaints from the FDA that it is no longer getting the funds needed to do the research required for the desired level of food safety."

Comments

maybe the FDA should hang out on slashdot

[bl8n8r]

"the FDA that it is no longer getting the funds needed to do the research required for the desired level of food safety."

They could find everything they need to know without spending a buck. Some of it will be useful. Of course, they may as well carpool with the USPTO.

Just don't eat meat

[pbailey]

Don't eat meat - problem solved :)

Re:This goes beyond idiocy

[Prof.Phreak]

Who is to say that bacteria won't evolve defenses either way?

I think they should concentrate their resources on finding -new- antibiotics instead of worrying about what happens to the few that are known. It's a battle that can never be won, and folks should realize that it's better to continuously evolve (live on the edge, in a way) new defenses than to assume our current defenses are silver bullets.