One of my favorite quotes, by Theodore Roosevelt:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” - Theodore Roosevelt in 1910 at the Sorbonne in Paris

Saturday, September 24, 2011

The Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act

I recently got an email from PCRM (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine) about this new bit of legislature called PAMTA (The Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act, H.R. 965/S. 1211). Basically, it's about having the FDA re-evaluate using antibiotics on livestock. The simplified version of the problem is livestock producers place animals in overcrowded, unsanitary living conditions to maximize their output and profits. Then, to prevent the inevitable spread of disease from such conditions and to spur faster growth in the animals, they routinely add antibiotics to their feed. Widespread use of antibiotics gives rise to resistant bacteria. Through contact with farm workers and contaminated waste runoff, resistant bacteria can spread to humans and other animals.

I have to say, that even if I didn't believe there was an issue with resistant strains of bacteria, I would have to support this kind of legislation to help change what is going on in factory farms. Hopefully, people who don't care about the conditions the animals are in will still have more selfish reasons to consider a change.

Is this important?
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2 comments:

  1. Cobalt VioletSeptember 27, 2011 at 2:06 PM

    YES!!! So important! Antibiotics are not good for us (killing off our "good bacteria") unless we really need it ... which I did two years ago when I had an infection from a ruptured appendix that almost killed me. I can't believe how we treat livestock and then put a band aid on the situation using antibiotics. Crazyiness.

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  2. The CriticSeptember 27, 2011 at 2:47 PM

    A lot of people don't seem to realize that we and animals have important probiotics that help keep us healthy, as well. And that taking antibiotics wipes them out too, and leaves you even more vulnerable. Thanks for bringing that up Cobalt Violet.

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