From: azel Beckner [azelb@wildmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2001 10:42 AM
To: EXECSEC
Subject: Abuse of Antibiotics supported by Government
Dear Secretary of the Food and Drug Administration:
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.

But while there is growing acceptance of the causes of
antibiotic resistance, there are few publicly available data
on the quantity of antibiotics used in the United States -
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.
I would like to see the Department of Agriculture required to report 
all the antibiotic usage and the labeling of all beef raised with 
antibiotics in their food.  We must do something to slow down the 
abuse of our most important drugs.
Sincerely,
Azel Beckner







 Azel Beckner Photographer
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