Increase limits on animal antibiotics

Last month, President Obama issued an executive order preserving antibiotics, which gets an A on tackling the problem of spreading antibiotic resistance from multiple angles. But in terms of addressing the biggest problem, the troubling overuse of antibiotics on factory farms, the administration gets an incomplete.

More than 70 percent of antibiotics sold in the U.S. are given to livestock and poultry, which regularly get their helpings whether they're sick or not. The drugs help the animals grow faster and allow them to avoid infections in conditions that are often cramped and overcrowded.

In issuing a plan of action next year, as directed by the order, the Obama administration should go further and limit the use of these drugs to animals that are truly sick.

Dev Gowda

Illinois Public Interest Research Group

Darien