May, 11 2012, 04:05pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Ben Lilliston,Communications Director,(612) 870-3416,blilliston@iatp.org
IATP Applauds Lawmakers' Call to FDA for Action on Antibiotics in Ethanol Production
FDA neglects responsibility to public health, highlighted by IATP investigation
WASHINGTON
Just 10 days after the release of IATP's latest report, Bugs in the System: How the FDA Fails to Regulate Antibiotics in Ethanol Production, Representatives Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) have written to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ask hard questions about whether the agency is doing its job to protect the public in addressing the issue of antibiotic use in ethanol.
As the letter highlights, and as reported earlier by IATP, antibiotics used in ethanol production are ending up in a byproduct known as dried distillers grains (DDGs) that are then sold as livestock feed, contributing to antibiotic resistance, a growing public health threat. Furthermore, according to the report, the FDA is neglecting to enforce its own regulations on antibiotic use in ethanol production while drug companies and the ethanol industry knowingly take advantage and skirt the rules.
"We applaud Representatives Markey and Slaughter's efforts to zero in on this regulatory failure," says IATP's Dr. David Wallinga. "Our antibiotics are too precious to squander through overuse and negligence. We deserve a better, more effective FDA."
Reps. Markey and Slaughter, in their letter to the FDA, write "As the threat of antibiotic resistance expands, we must ensure that the unnecessary use of antibiotics in agricultural animals is minimized and FDA has the ability to limit their use if it serves to protect public health."
Action by the FDA and the ethanol industry is urgent. Especially in light of many major ethanol producers avoiding antibiotic use in favor of safer, non-antibiotic alternatives that do not carry the same public health risks.
Read more about the issue of antibiotics in ethanol production, and the FDA's responsibility to regulate it in IATP's latest investigation, Bugs in the System: How the FDA Fails to Regulate Antibiotics in Ethanol Production. For more on the letter sent to the FDA, see the lawmakers' press release and official letter.
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy works locally and globally at the intersection of policy and practice to ensure fair and sustainable food, farm and trade systems.
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Supreme Court Urged to 'Rule Quickly' After Trump Immunity Arguments
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After about three hours of oral arguments Thursday on former President Donald Trump's immunity claims, legal experts and democracy defenders urged the U.S. Supreme Court to rule swiftly, with just over six months until the November election.
Trump—the presumptive Republican candidate to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden, despite his 88 felony charges in four ongoing criminal cases—is arguing that presidential immunity should protect him from federal charges for trying to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden, which culminated in the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
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At the same time, Sauer's backtracking might have little consequence from an electoral perspective. Further delay in a trial, which Sauer is close to achieving, is a form of victory in itself.
Slate's Mark Joseph Stern pointed out that when Barrett similarly questioned Michael Dreeben, the U.S. Department of Justice lawyer arguing the case for Smith, it seemed like they "were trying to work out some compromise wherein the trial court could distinguish between official and unofficial acts, then instruct the jury not to impose criminal liability on the former."
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Stern and other experts signaled that the decision likely comes down to Barrett and Chief Justice John Roberts, with the three liberals seemingly supporting the prosecution of Trump and the other four conservatives suggesting it is unconstitutional.
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