Pernicious Penicillin: The Downfall of Antibiotics

• The problem of antibiotic resistance stems from a long series of adverse actions, dating back nearly seventy years. 
• The initial incident began during WWII, when Alexander Fleming’s penicillin became widely known as a bacterial killing miracle drug. In 1941, the U.S. government made an appeal to Pfizer, today’s largest international pharmaceutical corporation, to advance the speed at which penicillin was being produced. A large supply would then be sent overseas to aid the injured Allied soldiers. Four months later, Pfizer was manufacturing five times more penicillin than originally planned. Not only was this a major turning point in human history, but it set the stage for the rise of antibiotic’s role in the future.                                                    
• The plan for penicillin, as well as many other antibiotics, had been slightly modified. Researchers had discovered that similar drugs and medications that improved humans’ health could also be used in animals to help them as well. In 1951, the mass produced penicillin was approved by the FDA to use in animal feed. Sadly, this approval was not intended for therapeutic uses like curing or treating otherwise fatal infections, but for more nontherapeutic or subtherapeutic uses such as routine disease prevention and growth promotion at low doses. 
• Not long after, in the 1960s, the FDA became concerned with the long-term use of antibiotics in animals and thought it might pose a threat to both animal and human health. In 1970, the agency conducted several studies where they found that subtherapeutic levels of antibiotics within animal feed contributed to the expansion of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. For more than forty years since then, the FDA has collaborated with various researchers that have linked subtherapeutic use of antibiotics in animal agriculture to the advancement of antibiotic-resistance.
• However, as recently as 2011, the FDA announced that it would end all attempts to withdraw approval of penicillin in animal feed. The present predicament of antibiotic-resistant bacteria can be seen as a breakdown in government policy.
• For more information on organizations promoting solutions
  http://www.ucsusa.org/  http://www.pewenvironment.org/  http://www.nrdc.org/
• Current news articles on the issue                                                  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-07/squash-superbugs-with-fast-track-antibiotics-approval.html