Background: The Healthy School Lunch Act
In 1995, the FDA approved fluoroquinolones for use in poultry over the objection of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. These drugs are used for therapeutic purposes in poultry, but are administered via water to an entire flock of up to 30,000 birds even if only a few birds are sick. As a result, large numbers of healthy animals are dosed with fluoroquinolones along with the sick ones – a pattern of drug use that encourages the development and spread of resistance.

FDA's proposed ban was prompted by data showing that Camplyobacter bacteria, which can cause severe food poisoning, have become increasingly resistant to fluoroquinolones since these antibiotics began to be used in poultry in 1995. At that time, resistance was negligible; in 2002, the most recent year for which data is available, it had climbed to 21%. In March 2004, an FDA Administrative Law Judge upheld the proposed ban, but Bayer, the only company manufacturing the drug, appealed that ruling to the FDA Commissioner. The drug remains on the market pending resolution of that appeal, and perhaps longer if the matter is litigated in the federal courts.

Data Collection
In addition to preserving Cipro’s effectiveness, Ohio’s Healthy School Lunch Act would also provide valuable data on agricultural use of a wide array of antibiotics, allowing health officials to better track antibiotic use. Remarkably, no government agency at the state or federal level now collects data on antibiotic use in agriculture. In May 2004, the U.S. Government Accountability Office called on federal agencies to collect such information, but no steps to implement this recommendation have been taken. As GAO noted, data on use will help agencies "develop strategies to mitigate antibiotic resistance."

Keep Antibiotics Working, a coalition of 13 health, consumer, agriculture, environmental-conservation, and other advocacy organizations, strongly supports the Healthy School Lunch Act and applauds the leadership shown by its lead sponsor, Ohio State Senator Robert Hagan (D-Youngstown).

Recommendations for the state of Ohio

• Pass the Healthy School Lunch Act, SB 73, which will:
  • Ban Ohio's school lunch programs from purchasing poultry
    treated with fluoroquinolones, helping to preserve the
    effectiveness of Cipro for years to come-*moot since
    September 2005 when the FDA upheld the ban.
• Provide valuable data on agricultural use of a wide array of antibiotics,allowing health officials to better track antibiotic use by requiring animal feed distributors and drug retailers to report their sales of antibiotics to the Ohio Agriculture Department and the State Pharmacy Board.
• Introduce a companion bill in the Ohio House of Representatives.
• Call on Senator Mike DeWine to co-sponsor pending federal legislation, Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (PAMTA). U.S. Representative Sherrod Brown (D-OH/Akron) is a lead sponsor of PAMTA. Unlike the Healthy School Lunch Act, PAMTA does not address fluoroquinolone use in poultry. Rather, it focuses on another aspect of the agricultural-antibiotics issue: widespread use of medically important antibiotics as feed additives for livestock and poultry that are not sick. (Note: fluoroquinolones are not approved for nontherapeutic use in poultry, only for therapeutic use, and thus are not covered under PAMTA.)

For more information contact:

Kristy Meyer
Ohio Outreach Specialist
Keep Antibiotics Working
The Ohio Environmental Council
1207 Grandview Ave. Suite 201
Columbus, Ohio 43212
614.487.7506
Kristy@theOEC.org
www.KeepAntibioticsWorking.com