US congressman to introduce bill on antibiotics registration

Waxman’s bill would mandate disclosure from pharmaceutical companies and feed mills about the types, purposes and quantities of antibiotics fed to farm animals.

The disclosure requirement for feed mills would be the first of its kind, according to Waxman’s office.

“We need reliable information about the use of antibiotics in agricultural operations,” Waxman, the top Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a statement.

“The more we learn, the graver the threat becomes from overuse of antibiotics by industrial-scale farms. We need this information so scientists and Congress can stop the spread of drug-resistant infections from farm animals to humans,” Waxman continued.

The measure comes amid some criticism of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for “dereliction of duty” on antibiotic resistance, in the words of another House Democrat.