Pharma Cos. Try to Block Maryland Bill to Stem Unnecessary Antibiotics on Farms
Good news: The Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee has passed the Keep Antibiotics Effective Act on a vote of 7-4. Supporting the bill in Committee were Chairwoman Joan Carter Conway and Senators Paul Pinsky, Shirley Nathan-Pulliam, Cheryl Kagan, Barbara Robinson, Ron Young and Craig Zucker.
Later today, the full Senate is expected to begin debate on the legislation. Unfortunately, pharmaceutical companies with a global reach are in Annapolis trying to stop this bill dead in its tracks.
If you have not yet emailed your legislators, please do so here.
Even better, please call your senator. You can find contact info here: http://mdelect.net/
The message to your senator is simple: Please support SB 422, the Keep Antibiotics Effective Act, and vote against any amendments that would weaken it.
Widget not in any sidebars
The Keep Antibiotics Effective Act has broad support among public health officials concerned about the threat of antibiotic resistance. In the United States, up to 70 percent of human use antibiotics are sold for use on animals. The bill will protect human health by ending inappropriate and unnecessary use of antibiotics in animal agriculture.
The bill:
- Bans the routine use of medically important antibiotics in food-producing animals that are not sick
- Allows the use of antibiotics to treat sick animals, for medical procedures, and to control disease outbreaks
- Requires the collection of data to track the administration of antibiotics in farm animals
Maryland would become the second state in the nation to prohibit routine antibiotic use in livestock. California passed similar legislation restricting use on farm animals in 2015.
Let’s do this!
Mitchelle Stephenson
Campaign and Communications Manager
Fair Farms
Reprinted with permission of Fair Farms. © Copyright 2017 Fair Farms.
