FDA May Be Poised to Approve Cefquinome
A Washington Post article suggests that the FDA could be on the verge of approving the controversial bovine respiratory syndrome drug.
Compiled by staff
Published: Mar 5, 2007
According to a Sunday Washington Post article, the Food and Drug Administration could be on the verge of approving cefquinome, the cattle antibiotic that has raised controversy about the possibility of drug-resistant "superbugs" in humans.
Cefquinome is intended to treat bovine respiratory syndrome, the most common disease in cattle.
The drug's critics - and the FDA's Veterinary Medical Advisory Committee - are concerned about the fact that it is in the same class of antibiotics used to treat a variety of human diseases including meningitis and gastrointestinal diseases in children. The overuse of antibiotics in humans and animals has already aided the evolution of resistant bacteria, the critics argue, and many epidemiologists warn that antibiotics should be used carefully.
However, according to the Post, FDA may go ahead with approval, due partly to pressure from a internal guidance document dealing how the agency should weigh animal drugs' threats to human health. According to experts quoted in the Post, it is difficult for the FDA to say no to a new animal drug unless the drug may threaten antibiotics that treat food-borne illnesses.
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