From: LYNN MINNEMAN [LMINNEMA@email.msn.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2001 4:57 PM
To: EXECSEC
Subject: Start A National Antibiotic-Use Reporting System Now

Dear Commissioner 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 expects that the overuse of antibiotics in agriculture is also impacting human health by contribution to the rise in drug-resistant microorganisms.
 
But while there is growing acceptance of the cause of antibiotic resistance, there are few publicly available data on the quantity of antibiotics uses in the US- data that are necessary for scientists to explore the links between antibiotic use and the development of drug resistance and for developing rational strategies to curb use.
 
Government-guaranteed information on US antibiotic use is necessary for creating effective solutions for reducing antibiotic use.  The FDA has recognized the need for collecting such informational 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 US.  The information should be collected for both human and agricultural use and should include the class, indication, dosage, and treatment period.
 
Please let me know your plans for establishing such a system.
 
Sincerely,
 
Lynn I. Minneman
950 SW 21st Ave, Apt 306
Portland, OR 97205