Representative Louise Slaughter (D-NY) this week reintroduced the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (PAMTA) for the fourth time since 2007. The bill aims to ban non-therapeutic uses of medically important antibiotics in food animal production. The PAMTA reintroduction comes on the heels of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s public warning less than two weeks ago about antibiotic resistant infections becoming nearly impossible to treat.
The latest version of the bill has two updates. The legislation now covers cephalosporins, bringing the total to eight classes of medically important antibiotics that would be banned from so called non-therapeutic uses. The provision also clarifies what is considered non-therapeutic “to ensure that any use of medically important antibiotics outside of treatment of a sick animal is not permitted,” according to Slaughter’s office.
