From: Michel A. Lombard [mlombard@tlxnet.net]
Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2001 12:15 PM
To: EXECSEC
Subject: National Antibiotic-Use Reporting System
TO: 
Jane E. Henney, M.D. 
Commissioner 
U. S. Food and Drug Administration 
5600 Fishers Lane 
Rockville MD 20857-0001 
phone: 301-827-2410 
fax: 301-443-3100 
E-mail: execsec@oc.fda.gov 
  
Dear Commissioner Jane Henney: 

The rise in antibiotic resistance is slowly eliminating the effectiveness of these drugs for treating infectious diseases in people.  While the misuse of antibiotics in human medicine is the larger contributor to the  problem, there is agreement among public health experts that the overuse of antibiotics in agriculture is  also impacting human health by contributing to the rise in drug-resistant microorganisms. 
Government-guaranteed information on U.S. antibiotic use is necessary for creating effective solutions for reducing antibiotic use.  The Food and Drug Administration has recognized the need for collecting such information, but it has not taken steps to establish the needed system. 
The FDA should move now to establish a system for collecting basic data on agricultural antibiotic use in the United States.  The information should be collected for both human and agricultural use and should include the class, indication, dosage, and treatment period. 
The creation of a federal antibiotic reporting system should be a top priority. 

I would like to hear from you what the FDA plans to do regarding this matter. 

Best regards, 

Michel A. Lombard 
  

Michel A. Lombard 
912 Taft Place 
New Orleans, LA 70119-3828