Last month several nonprofit advocacy organizations filed a lawsuit against FDA for denying a 2016 petition which sought to ban the use of certain medically important antibiotics in livestock and poultry for disease-prevention. Antibiotics are administered for this purpose sub-therapeutically to the herd when the herd faces conditions that could make it more susceptible to disease (e.g., stress from overcrowding).

The lawsuit argues that in denying the petition, FDA failed to consider the effect of the use these antibiotics on human health and that the sub-therapeutic use of these antibiotics for disease prevention contributes to the increased prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which pose a significant risk to human health. Accordingly, the lawsuit alleges that FDA has not met its statutory mandate to ensure that all animal drugs are safe, i.e., a reasonable certainty of no harm to human health from the proposed use of the drug in food-producing animals. 

While the lawsuit acknowledges that industry has phased out the use of antibiotics for growth-promotion and that the use of antibiotics for disease-prevention requires veterinary oversight, it argues that such measures are not sufficient to protect human health, and that the use of antibiotics for disease prevention has increased in the last few years.