Antibiotic resistance is a growing crisis in human medicine, and the use of important human drugs in animal agriculture unnecessarily places our health at risk. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is currently considering an application by drug company Schering-Plough to allow an antibiotic called cefquinome to be used to treat cattle respiratory infections. Cefquinome is from the class of drugs known as “fourth-generation cephalosporins”—drugs that are highly valued in human medicine to treat life-threatening infections. Widespread use of cefquinome in cattle could drive human bacterial resistance to this critical class of drugs.
Dear Fred Hassan:
We, the undersigned, urge Schering-Plough to withdraw its new animal drug application to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the approval of cefquinome. Cefquinome and other 4th generation cephalosporins are critical for treating human disease and their use in animals would pose an unnecessary risk to their effectiveness.
In September 2006, an FDA advisory committee found that use of cefquinome in cattle was likely to contribute to bacterial resistance to this class of antibiotics in humans. Additionally, 14 other drugs are already approved for respiratory disease treatment in cattle. Given these facts, along with the strong consensus against approval among the public health community in the United States, I urge Schering-Plough to do the right thing and withdraw its application for cefquinome.
By withdrawing the cefquinome application, Schering-Plough would send a strong signal that the company is committed to protecting public health and to fulfilling its stated vision of earning trust.
Signed by:
[Your name]
[Your address]
